


Avatar: The Last Rationalist

by DrMaridelMolotov



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Avatar (TV) Fusion, Avatar Cycle, Avatar State, Bending (Avatar), Mystery, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2019-09-29 20:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 44,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17210687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrMaridelMolotov/pseuds/DrMaridelMolotov
Summary: Understand. Plan. Execute. Review. Arthur Shepherd is a soldier and physicist. After living for a hundred years he wakes up to find he is a 12 year old boy named Aang. Now he must use all his wits to not only save a new world but figure out what the hell is going on.





	1. The Life and Times of Arthur Shepherd

**Foundling Hospital, London 1923**

"He hasn't moved from that spot for over two hours," Margaret said looking at the little boy who was drawing on the paper before him. "I tried to get him to go outside but he starts crying."

"Did you try talking to him?" Jane asked her friend.

"He won't speak to me or anyone else," Margaret replied giving the boy a concerned look. "I have to clean the clothes. Won't you tend to him Jane?"

"I have work to do," Jane sighed. "Can't anyone else help him?"

"They are all busy," Margaret said quickly leaving before Jane could get another word in. "Besides he will only talk to you."

Jane just shook her head and resigned herself to her new responsibility. She approached the five-year-old boy who hadn't noticed their presence or if he did didn't indicate it.

"Arthur what exactly you are drawing?"

"I'm not Arthur, I'm Aang. And right now I'm drawing Appa," Arthur said not looking at Jane as he danced his pencil back and forth across the paper.  _This place needs a brush up_ Jane thought. The children didn't seem to mind the messiness of the common room, but she couldn't stand a room as dirty as this one. The brown cracked walls and the stained carpet certainly didn't help. But even with the mess anyone who walked in the room could tell that it was a loving place.

"Ok Aang and what is Appa?" Jane asked bemused by the boy's equal concentration and imagination. Never in all her years as a caretaker had she seen a boy as young as him stay in one place for so long.

"He's my flying bison," Arthur said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Flying bison? Bison don't fly."  _Where did he see a bison?_ Jane thought. She looked at the paper to see a rough sketch of some animal with four legs. Its eyes were narrow and angry and the jagged edges that made up the creature seemed to indicate it was more of a wild monster than a pet.

"Yes, they do," the boy said adamantly.

"Hmmm," Jane said pretending to be in thought. "Why does Appa look so scary?"

"Appa isn't scary," the boy said looking up for the first time.

"Then why does he look so angry and rough?"

"Appa is fluffy. I just didn't draw his…," the boy said trying to think of the right word, "fluffiness."

"Right," Jane said again looking at his drawings. "And who is that?" She pointed towards a small figure on top of Appa.

"That's me. When I want to go meet my friends I just ride on Appa," Arthur said smiling.

"How wonderful," she sighed. If there were one thing the boy had plenty of it was his imagination. "Do your friends also ride on Appa?"

"Some of them do but airbenders have their own bison."

"Airbenders?" Jane asked picking up a relatively thick stack of drawings and sitting on a chair. While the other boys played football or cricket Arthur would stay inside and continue drawing. No matter how hard she pushed the boy to go outside he wouldn't budge. Surprisingly Arthur, who was usually shy, had an amazing amount of stubbornness.

"They can move the air," he said in excitement. "They can jump really high and run really fast. And…and they live in temples and we play all the time!"

"Really now? Are you an airbender?"

"Yes," he said starting to frown. He stopped drawing and decided to stare instead; almost as if he were in a trance "I am an airbender," Arthur muttered under his breath.

"Arthur what's wrong?" Jane asked after a minute had passed. She had never seen such a quick change in mood especially in a boy so young.

"I can't airbend," Arthur said tears streaming down his eyes. He punched his fist into the air, but nothing happened. "I can't jump really high anymore. What's wrong with me?"

"Oh Arthur," Jane said picking up the boy and putting him on her lap. "It is alright."

"It's not alright," he said between sobs, "I'm not an airbender anymore."

"Arthur," Jane said drying his tears. "Just because you aren't an airbender doesn't mean it is the end. It's just a new beginning. Why don't you learn something new?"

"New? Like what?"

"Well why don't we read some books and learn how to do arithmetic?"

"But those aren't fun things," Arthur replied pouting.

"True but maybe they can help you," Jane said a plan forming in her mind. "Maybe even get your airbending back."

It can do that?" Arthur asked as a ray of hope shined through his eyes.

"Oh yes Arthur," Jane said as she practiced her manipulation on him. "With enough knowledge anything is possible."

"Really? Can we start now?" he asked squirming in Jane's lap.

"Well Arthur," Jane said. "We can always study later. Why don't you play with the boys outside?"

"I don't want to play with them. I want to be an airbender now," Arthur said as he tried to get out of Jane's hold.

"Arthur? Aren't airbenders strong?"

"Strong?"

"They can jump really high right?" Jane asked to which Arthur nodded. "Then how can you be an airbender if you don't go outside and play? If you go outside and run and jump maybe you can become an airbender again."

"Really?" he asked literally jumping out of the caretaker's lap. He was half way out the door when he remembered his drawings. "Thank you, Ms. Chapin. Can you put my drawings somewhere safe?"

"Of course, Arthur," Jane said flashing a smile. "Now go play outside. I don't want you back unless you're all tuckered out."

"Yes Ms. Chapin. And my name is Aang!" he yelled running outside.  _Ah simple youth_  Jane thought to herself as she watched the boy join his new friends. Except he immediately started jumping up and down and running in circles instead of playing football.  _Well it's a start,_ Jane sighed.

Later that night as the other boys soundly slept Arthur was thrashing his bed. It usually was the same nightmare he had for the past two weeks. He was riding Appa, there was a storm, he fell into the ocean, and then just pure brightness. That's how it often went.

But tonight, was different. After the bright blinding light there was a brown door. It was the same brown door as the closet in the common room. He opened the door to find a completely blank white space. Arthur tried to see if there were an end to the room, but it seemed to just stretch forever.

He was about to close the door when he heard a sound. It was barely a whisper but in this space, it was deafening. He looked around and saw a boy, like one of the older ones in his orphanage, sitting in a meditative pose. He was floating two feet off the ground and didn't seem to mind that Arthur was staring at him. But perhaps the strangest part was that the boy was glowing a solid light blue while the arrow tattoos on his arms and head were glowing with silver-white light.

As Arthur approached the boy the whispers were getting louder and louder until it became so deafening that he tried to cover his ears, but it didn't help. It was only when he was a foot away from him did the whispering stop.

The boy suddenly opened his eyes to reveal a bright silver glow and yelled two words.

"WAKE UP!"

* * *

**King's College, London 1936**

"And why exactly do you want to pursue your physics degree here at Kings College Mr. Shepherd?" Dr. Bedford asked sitting completely straight in his leather chair. The office was, suffice to say, completely cluttered. There were books all over the place with stacks reaching as almost as high as five feet. One might suggest putting these books on the shelves but the bookcases themselves seemed close to bursting. There were three of them one at each wall encompassing the area and only serving to further to intimidate the young man who sat across the physicist.

"By reputation, of course, I heard King's College was the best introduction to become a physicist," Arthur meekly said trying not to look into Dr. Bedford's eyes. It was those pitch-black pupils in those eyes of his that scared him the most. He believed himself to be a confident man but before the doctor's stern gaze he was hesitant to do anything. It was as if those eyes were examining the depths of his very soul.

"Why do you want to become a physicist?" Dr. Bedford said.

"I always wanted to understand the world sir,"

"Yes that is the answer that they all give," Dr. Bedford sighed, "but why do you specifically want to be a physicist?"

"We—"

"And by why," Dr. Bedford said, not noticing that he interrupted Arthur. "I mean what inspired you to become a physicist?"

"I, uh…" Arthur said trying to think.  _Should I just say the truth? Would he laugh?_  he thought.  _Hopefully I don't shoot myself in the foot here._ "When I was ten I found a most wonderful book."

"A book?" Dr. Bedford said his eyebrow raised in interest. "What book was it?"

"It was more of a novella really," Arthur said.

"Well lad? Get on with it. There are more applicants after you."

"Yes sir—I mean doctor," Arthur said chiding himself. "The story was H.G. Well's  _The Time Machine._  Ever since I read it I always wanted to make my own time machine one day."

"For what purpose?" Dr. Bedford asked as his gaze became even stronger.

"What?"

"Why do you want to make a time machine?"

"Why do we make space machines?" Arthur retorted, a little fire starting in his eyes.

"Pardon?"

"We made automobiles to get to places faster, made planes to reach areas unreachable before," Arthur said in what seemed to be a well-rehearsed speech. "Steamships, blimps, and submarines, all examples of our obsession with reaching our destinations faster. Should we not make time machines as well? Besides it would solve many of our problems."

"What problems?"

"The first problem humanity has ever had to dealt with is time," Arthur said. "All our lives we are constrained by time, leashed by its chains. There isn't enough time to work, to play, to live. We are always running ourselves haggard fighting the clock. Time is the only master Dr. Bedford and I seek to escape its bondage."

"And what of the paradoxes? The bootstrap? The grandfather?" Dr. Bedford asked reclining in his chair. Arthur noticed it was the first time he had relaxed and continued his line of attack.

"If I discover the universe doesn't permit me to make such a machine then I shall be satisfied," Arthur said. "For the journey to create such a machine will bring forth many new inventions and theories."

"And if I were to tell you that your pursuit of such a device was comical at best would you abandon such notions?"

"I…" Arthur said as he tried to think for the best answer.  _The best answer or the right one?_  he thought. "I probably wouldn't," Dr. Bedford. "I could lie to you say I would, but I don't want to gain admission under any false pretenses. I will either make the time machine, prove that it is impossible, or most likely, die trying."

"So, you base your entire interest in physics on a fantastical story about a machine that most likely can never exist?" Dr. Bedford laughed as he picked up a piece of paper and put a mark on it.

"Yes sir," Arthur said getting up from his chair. "But I will not stand here and be ridiculed. I understand I am disqualified and I wont waste any more of your time."

"Hold on," Dr. Bedford said before Arthur got to the door. "I was merely stating a fact not insulting you." He stood up and started to search from his maze that was the library. All the while Arthur stood there shocked that someone actually took him seriously.

"Aha! Found it," Bedford said holding a small book in his hand. "This was the story that inspired me."

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?" Arthur asked in wonderment. It was hard to find a fellow science fiction fan much less a physicist who was one.

"I have studied astronomy for two decades but the depths below? That has always remained a passion of mine." Dr. Bedford smiled. "When I was a boy, not much younger than yourself, my father was a captain. I would often ride along on his ship and sail across the channel. It had been my dream to travel the seas and perhaps one day explore beneath it."

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking," Arthur said hesitantly, "Why didn't you?" Dr. Bedford didn't respond but simply looked outside the only window in his office to see a storm front approaching. The gray clouds were moving rapidly toward London and the heavy gusts were the vanguard.

"There was a storm much like the one we'll have this afternoon," Dr. Bedford simply stated.

"Oh," Arthur said. "My condolences."

"Do not worry yourself on these matters," Dr. Bedford said taking off his glasses and wiping them. "Besides not all storms are bad. In fact, storms are a great omen when a ship, or anyone really, begins their journey."

"Journey sir?'

"Your journey Arthur Shepherd," Dr Bedford said offering a handshake, "Welcome to Kings College."

* * *

**Chelsea Greater London 1942**

"Don't go Arthur," Cynthia pleaded, "Please don't go." There was almost no sound in the London streets at this hour in the morning. The clouds in the sky foretold a heavy storm was to come later in the day which was a welcome sight for many of the Londoners who had survived the Blitz.

"I must Cynthia," Arthur said, "I can't ignore a draft."

"You very well know you can," Cynthia replied as hot tears streamed down her face.

"They will put me in jail!"

"Better to be safe in jail than to be dead in a battlefield."

"No Cynthia," Arthur said tearing up, "I must go. How can we afford to put food on the table if I am in jail?"

"We can run away to the United States."

"And leave your parents behind?"

"Aren't you leaving us behind?" Cynthia yelled.

"Cynthia, please," Arthur said sitting down beside her. Her blond hair was a mess, but it still didn't hide her beauty. "I would never leave you or Emily behind. But if I am to protect our family I must go."

"Alright Arthur," Cynthia said calming herself down. They sat silently together for a few minutes staring into the scenery outside their second-floor apartment. Half-ruined buildings and small fires were now commonplace but there was still a certain beauty that the city communicated to its people. That after all the bombings London would stand its ground no matter the cost.

"Let me say goodbye to Emily," Arthur said as Cynthia quietly followed. Arthur opened the door to see a small girl soundly sleep in her bed. He slowly bent down cherishing the moment and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back my angel." Arthur took one last look at her before he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

"You better come back Arthur," Cynthia said grabbing his hand.

"Make sure you get to your parents as quickly as you can," Arthur said doing last minute checks to make sure everything was packed.

"We'll head for the train on Friday," Cynthia said. How nice it would be, Cynthia thought, to head for the countryside and escape any notice of a war. "Arthur we can escape for the countryside together. No one will catch us," she said in a last gamble.

"No I must go," Arthur said giving her a tight hug. "I will be back soon." He walked out the door into the breezy twilight streets of London.  _Perhaps it will be a good day_ , he was strange seeing the city so barren and devoid of life. Before the war, even at 2 AM there would be some friends walking about, some shops opening for the new day.

He had made it two blocks from their apartment when he grew hesitant.  _Should I stay?_  Arthur thought. He turned around and looked back to see Cynthia waving back. Even from here he could make out her teary face.  _No I must protect them. For King and country._  He turned around and continued his march.

* * *

**Battle of Bure (sub-battle of the Battle of the Bulge) January 5th,1945**

"So the Nazis evacuated?" Arthur asked as he reloaded his M1 Garand rifle.

"Doesn't mean there won't be any stragglers left," Charlie McMillian, a fellow private, said. "The rest of Company A and B are clearing the west side. We're on east so we've got more houses after this one."

"True but this is the fourth house we're searching. Don't think we'll find anyone here."

"Arthur stop being an idiot," Charlie said. "We can't take the chance there isn't someone in there."

"Right," Arthur said swiftly walking through the once locked door of the abandoned house. He made his way toward the kitchen only to find it in complete disarray. Cabinets were ripped off the walls, the table had been split in two, and the chairs were reduced to splinters. The once white walls were now covered in large black marks and even the ceiling had large dents in it as well.

"Cl- Clear!" Arthur said shaking his head out of bewilderment. The enemy could still be here, hiding anywhere.

"All clear here." Charlie McMillian responded after inspecting the living room. He rejoined Arthur at the bottom of the staircase. "Living room is a complete mess."

"Kitchen too," Arthur said as he made his way up the stairs.

It had been three straight days of hell for the 13th Lancashire Parachute Battalion and neither side had given an inch. Between the hail of shells and the storm of bullets the village was left in ruins. It was an unfortunate mix of soldiers and villagers who couldn't escape in time. Their bodies were strewn all over Bure, all in different kinds of shape. Some were barely touched, as if they were sleeping. But their death had been a violent one as the concussive shockwaves from the shells had ripped apart their innards. Others were completely torn apart. Their body parts lined the streets in the direction of the shelling forming a violent gradient of human violence.

But perhaps the most unfortunate were the ones who had survived their initial injuries only to watch hopelessly as they bled out in the streets. It got so bad that the military had brought in an ambulance and set up a makeshift medical center the day before, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough.

"You go left," Charlie said as he entered a room.

"Clear!" Arthur yelled after quickly inspecting the closet he had just opened.

The second room happened to be a small brown bedroom that contained a single child-sized bed. The lack of dust and the clean linen bed sheets indicated that they had just left probably yesterday. It was strange seeing something so familiar feel so foreign.  _Does Emily have something like this?_  He was about to leave when a certain glint caught his eye.

He looked underneath the bed and found a golden chalice or was it a cup? He never really learned the difference. It was a dull yellow and bore no symbols or trademark anywhere.  _Gold plated silverware... Kind of tacky isn't it?_  Arthur thought. But money was money and so Arthur guiltily pocketed the chalice. He needed all he could get to support Cynthia and Emily.  _Wait where's Charlie?_  It had been a minute since he last heard him yell "clear".

"Arthur get in here!" Charlie yelled.

"What happened?" he yelled running to another bedroom opposite the hallway. "Jesus Christ! What the bloody hell happened here?"

"God damn Nazis. They aren't even human anymore."

"I can't believe this," Arthur said covering his nose in a vain attempt to stop the stench from invading. "How the hell did they get in the wall?"

The whole bedroom had been literally decorated in blood. Walls, ceiling, floor, everything was covered in blood. There were actual bones, some with flesh dripping to the floor, stuck in the walls. Right next to the door was a large man-sized hole in the wall that exposed the bedroom to the light snowfall that had started an hour ago.

"Holy shit Arthur look at the floor," Charlie yelled trying to dance around the blood but it was useless. The whole floor was awash with blood.

"Jesus," Arthur said as he was about to jump on the bed when he saw that it too was completely soaked in blood,

"Look," Charlie said pointing to the corner in horror, his face starting to turn ghost-white. "There are three bodies over there. All women."

"Those are women? How can you tell?" Arthur gasped running out of the room. He saw that his boot was covered in what seemed to be brain matter and almost vomited.

"Lord help us," Charlie said following Arthur out of the room except he had actually vomited. It was only a few minutes later after he had somewhat regained his composure that he could talk again. "Look at what they're wearing."

Arthur walked back into the room and saw that the mostly skeletal remains were indeed of three women, but it was hard to tell. The skeletal part of the bodies were separate and distinct but somehow whatever flesh they had remaining had fused together into one melted mess. And that is when he saw the remains of what once was clothing stuck into the flesh itself. The was even a little small yellow dress.  _Little yellow dress…_  Arthur thought and proceeded to actually throw up. "Christ, I think there's a little girl in that mess."

"You can't be fucking serious." Charlie ran back, his anger repelling his disgust, to closely inspect the horror. "Oh my god. Her face, where is her face?" The other two corpses at the very least still had their faces even though they were… dripping off.

"Charlie… I think you're stepping in it," Arthur stuttered pointing toward the puddle of skin, blood, and pus around Charlie's boot.

"Bloody fucking hell. What kind of weapon even does this?"

 _That poor girl_  Arthur thought, his eyes tearing up. It was only after a minute that he remembered the actual mission. "Did you clear the second floor?"

"Yeah," Charlie said. He didn't know whether it was morbid curiosity or sheer shock, but he couldn't stop gawking at everything inside.

"Look at this," Arthur pointed toward a picture frame. "I think it's them."

"Really? Let me see?" Charlie looked at the picture to see it was a family of five. A man, a woman, and three daughters, the oldest no more than twenty and the youngest no more than six.

"God fucking dammit," Arthur yelled. "Fuck these godless Nazis."

"Where are the mother and father?"

"I think they're the body parts stuck in the wall."

"What are you talking about?"

"Over there," Arthur said pointing towards a corner of the wall. "There's a hairy arm over there."

The private followed the direction to an arm hanging by its fingers stuck to the wall. "And I'm guessing that's the mother?" Charlie asked nudging him towards the hairless feminine foot beside the bed.

"So, they killed them all," Arthur said in anger and disbelief. "What do you think they wanted?"

"God knows."

"What should we do?"

"Report it the Lieutenant," he said sitting outside the nightmarish room. Charlie tried lighting a cigarette but gave up when he realized his hands were shaking too much to get a spark. The one time he did get a flame going a freezing gust came through the hole in the wall and snuffed it out. "He'll probably burn this house down. Can't let the Nazis get whatever they wanted."

"What will the others say?"

"Nothing. They'll burn it down too."

"So how do you think it happened?" Arthur said sitting beside Charlie holding his head in his hands. It was too much. War had taken the little hope that he had that man was not fundamentally evil. Some were too twisted, too depraved to be saved. There was irredeemable evil, and this room was the proof.

"Don't know. Maybe they entered through the door, did whatever they did, and left through the hole in the room," Charlie said despondently. "Or it could have been a bomb and a chemical attack. A shell was shot through the bedroom, it exploded, and some kind of gas melted their skin off…"

"You think they'll use that on us?"

"Maybe?" Charlie said. The two men stayed silently outside the room for what seemed like an eternity before getting up. They paid their respects and made their way out of the second floor.

It was only when Arthur exited the house that he remembered the chalice in his jacket pocket.  _God damn I'm an asshole_  Arthur thought. To think that he had even entertained such a notion as selling the chalice for money was quite shameful. Right now there was nothing in the world he would trade it for.

* * *

**Kings College, December 8** **th** **, 1948**

"What are you working on?" Dr. Bedford asked of the newly appointed professor.

"What I've always been working on," Arthur said scribbling notes from various open books.

"Ah yes the time machine," Dr. Bedford said in disappointment as he sat down in a chair by the desk.

"It's the only thing that matters now," Arthur added. "The only thing that ever really mattered."

"Are you alright?"

"As anyone can be I suppose."

Minutes passed as Dr. Bedford continued watching his former student delve into the world of theoretical physics. His pencil danced and jotted down any ideas that came to his head. It was a marvel seeing Arthur go to his work especially with the office so dark. For the past year, the curtains in the office were fully closed.  _It was to help produce ideas_ Dr. Bedford remembered Arthur once saying but right now it was just another sign he needed help.

"Arthur the staff is worried about you," Dr. Bedford sighed. "They believe you have gone mad."

"Really now? And I suppose they sent you to check upon me," Arthur laughed.

"Guilty as charged."

"Well? Have I passed?"

"Passed what?"

"Your test. I think you will find me extremely sane, much more so than the others."

"Arthur, we really are worried about you," Dr. Bedford said. "You have stuck yourself in here for months. We only ever see you when you come out to teach."

"I am far too busy to consider what others think James."

On that note Arthur went back to his research ignoring his friend's stare. Dr. Bedford was almost frightened as he watched Arthur's obsession with his crackpot theory. Even though it was quite chilly in the halls of the university, Dr. Bedford literally saw Arthur produce sweat from sheer concentration. It was time for his trump card.

"How many days has it been?" Arthur didn't respond but simply slid a paper across the desk toward him never taking his eyes off his work.

"485?" Dr. Bedford sighed reading the number written in huge red letterings on top of the page. It had been irritable at the start, but Dr. Bedford had gotten used to Arthur's newfound habit of numbering his days instead of placing the current date on his papers.

"Arthur don't you think they want you to be happy? You can't keep living like this."

"I'll be happy when I resurrect them. Wouldn't they be happy being alive?"

"You have to move on Arthur. They have found peace and so must you. A time machine won't save them," Dr. Bedford said.

"Bollocks!" Arthur slammed his hand on the desk and got up. "A time machine is the solution to any problem. Time is the only problem, the first problem to ever exist."

"Shhh!" Dr. Bedford said putting a finger over his mouth, "You can't be heard saying that. If the others find out they will have you committed."

"Me? Committed? I'm the only sane one around here! You people spend your lives compromising every day until life pushes you into a corner you can't get out of." Arthur said pacing the room back and forth. "Well no more! We don't have to compromise. Come help me James. Don't you want to see your father again?"

'Don't you dare—" Dr. Bedford interrupted himself. His friend was troubled. He didn't know what he was saying.

"Sorry," Arthur said. "I did not mean to mention your father." He sighed and sat back down in his chair.

Dr. Bedford didn't respond immediately. He simply looked at his former student before him. His baggy eyes, brown unkempt hair, and ragged clothes all clearly indicated the level of his obsession. What avenue could he take to dissuade him from his delusion? Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way? What if he played into it? Just for a little while.

"Do you truly want to make a time machine?"

"Yes. More than anything yes," Arthur said, his eyes twinkling.

"And you know more than likely, that you will not succeed."

"Yes. That is most likely the case," Arthur answered.

"Then why attempt it?" Dr. Bedford asked surprised by his student's rationale. "Why try to make something which is nearly impossible."

"I plan to make sure my ideas inspire further generations who may one day succeed." Arthur smiled. A smile which Dr. Bedford had not seen in over a year. "My theories, my work, all my ideas all serve to light a torch. A torch which will be held by those after me. If they successfully make a time machine hopefully they will save Cynthia and Emily."

"Then wouldn't they be saved already?" Dr. Bedford said trying to work out the logic.

"Who knows how time travel works? Multiple theories have already been proposed. For all we know the time travelers are already here."

"Yes, but it is far more likely that you and those after you have failed," Dr. Bedford said. "After all it is the simplest explanation."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. There is a theory that once someone makes a time machine that they are only permitted to travel into the past up to the creation of the machine."

"Then your plan to save your family—"

"Will fail or is it has failed," Arthur said giving a sad smile. "But at the very least death after the creation of the machine will not be as permanent as it is today."

"Is there no alternative goal that you can choose to pursue? Perhaps a cure for tuberculosis?" Dr. Bedford asked.

"No," Arthur shook his head, "Tuberculosis is one of the many paths to death. If it weren't tuberculosis, then it easily could have been influenza or polio."

"If you want your plan to succeed then you have to be more presentable, more sociable," Dr. Bedford said.

"Why?"

"How do you plan on influencing the next generation if you're cooped up in your office?"  _He's in the trap now to finish it off_. "It is a sad state of affairs, but academia is considerably political. Just publishing in journals won't be enough to win over other physicists. Even publishing requires certain formalities and political acumen. Think of all the scientific progress that has been delayed because of politics and grudges."

"I find it ridiculous that I have to stall my research just so I can have a chance of communicating it to someone else. My work should speak for itself."

"And yet history has many examples of work gone unrecognized, of fame not justly rewarded. Look at Archimedes, he laid the foundations for calculus. If he had shared his ideas, made his work more accessible, then it would have become more prevalent. Can you imagine what would have happened if calculus were studied a thousand or even three hundred years before Leibniz and Newton?" Dr. Bedford said smiling. His plan had succeeded.

"Yes, perhaps being more sociable will have its advantages," Arthur said as he thought about Dr. Bedford's advice. "It will allow me to influence more people."

"And don't forget you can always collaborate with others."

"Yes, I suppose so," Arthur said. He looked toward to his grandfather clock to see it was an hour past noon. "I might as well start now. Perhaps join the others for lunch." Arthur got up and headed for the door.

"You're not going out dressed like that, are you?" Dr. Bedford was bemused at his former student's obliviousness.

"I suppose you are correct," Arthur smirked.

"I always am," Dr. Bedford retorted.

* * *

**Kings College August 13** **th** **, 1992**

"Dr. Shephard, what would it exactly take to open a wormhole?" Ethan asked. The lecture hall, as large as it was, was almost completely full. The introductory modern physics class was already a popular elective before Arthur had started teaching it. While the other researchers found it tedious to teach such an easy class Arthur welcomed the opportunity. There was something exhilarating about seeing people learn that he couldn't resist.

"Ethan, you have to be more specific in your question. You need to tell me what parameters you want," Arthur said.

Ethan didn't immediately respond. He took a moment to carefully consider the question, a technique that Arthur had insisted that the students hone. "Do you mean the size of the wormhole professor?"

"Exactly," Arthur gave an approving nod. "But not just that. We would need many more parameters. How long do you want the wormhole opened for? Where should it be opened? What does it connect to?" Arthur said counting with his fingers. "And then there are myriad more technical ones."

"Ah sir?" Sarah, who sat in the front row, asked. "Then what is the minimum energy needed to open a wormhole of any size?"

"If you wanted a usable one, then let's just say it would take a lot of negative energy. And by a lot I mean the amount of energy in the sun."

"And negative energy is?" Sarah asked.

An incredibly abstract and theoretical concept that is highly unlikely to actually exist. But don't let that discourage you," Arthur smirked while some students laughed.

"So how come—" Ethan said.

"Ah no more questions for now, Ethan. Save them for the end. I have to continue on," Arthur said. Just as he was about to return to the lecture about the Michaelson-Morley experiment the door at the back of the lecture hall swiftly opened.

A woman and two men entered the lecture hall and without any ceremony or introduction promptly sat in the last row. The men seemed to be middle-aged, possibly in their forties or fifties. The woman herself, however, seemed to be in her early twenties or perhaps even younger.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Arthur asked inspecting their out of place attire. It was the middle of August but the three were wearing formal suits. The men wore solid black, but the woman wore pure white.  _Doesn't it get dirty really easily?_  he thought.

"Just observers doctor. We are quite interested in this lecture," the woman smiled taking her top hat off and revealing her red hair. The students started to murmur and secretly glanced at the trio.

"I see," Arthur said reasoning that they were probably patrons or VIPs of the university. It didn't matter to him much as long as they remained quiet. "Well then thank you for joining us today. On with the lesson then."

The students soon lost their interest in the group and returned their attention toward the physics lecture. An hour into the lecture and Arthur could tell that the three had no interest in his lecture at all. Earlier the two men had taken out fairly thick books and soon had become engrossed in them as if they were in their own little world. The woman on the other hand was a completely different story.

Over the course of the lecture she had been staring at him. At first Arthur had thought that she must have been really interested in relativity. But later on he could feel her stare as if she were boring down into his soul. Even worse was the voice in his head. It started off as a small whisper but grew larger and larger until it was as loud as a bullhorn.  _RUN AWAY! STAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FROM THAT WOMAN!_  the voice kept saying. But he did his best to ignore the voice and carry on with his lesson.

"Alright students what's the dilation factor in the third problem?" Arthur asked his students who were completing example problems in class. As soon as he had asked the question the Strange Trio, the nickname Arthur had given them, got up from the back row and left the hall.

"Goodbye," Arthur called out too late.

"Well that was rude of them," Ethan said. The other students murmured in agreement. "They didn't even thank you."

"Who were they professor?" Stephanie asked.

"Who knows?" Arthur wondered checking his watch. There were only five minutes left in class but how did they know that? And if they were so bored why didn't they leave earlier? "Okay class let's pack it up for today."

"Professor what about the third problem?" someone in the back asked,

"Add it to your homework, which I expect for Monday." Some students groaned but most were enthusiastic for the weekend and Arthur was one of them.

It had been a tiring week and he really could use the weekend to sleep late into Saturday. First thing he was doing when he got home was take a relaxing bath and jump right into bed. He rushed to his office to drop off students' exams from another class all the while ignoring the somewhat strange looks others gave him. After all it wasn't often one saw a speedy septuagenarian.

He walked down the hallway to his office, which was located at the end of the long hall lined by the offices of his colleagues. It was right when he was about to enter his office did he notice that the door was slightly ajar. Arthur shivered as a literal chill went down his spine.  _Maybe I left it unlocked,_  Arthur thought.

He had half a mind to run right now as far as possible, but his curiosity overwhelmed him. Who exactly would even bother breaking into his office anyway? "Whoever's in here, you have three seconds to show yourself before I call security," Arthur said in a plain but commanding tone and entered the office.

"Hmmm… we didn't expect you so soon," a voice said. Arthur turned his attention toward his brown office chair that had its back toward him.

"You can't just break in here," Arthur said in shock. It was the two men who had interrupted his lecture. They were sitting in their respective chairs and were completely absorbed in reading through the same stack of papers they had started on in the lecture hall. So much so that they hadn't even flinched at Arthur's outburst.  _Then if they are here the woman is in my chair_ he thought to himself.

"We just did," the woman said as she spun the chair around, or at least tried to. "What the hell? This chair is stuck!"

"Are you alright?" one of the men asked getting up.

"No, no sit-down Dr. Scala," the woman said dismissively. She pulled against the chair forcefully and spun it quickly enough to face Arthur. "I'm just a little peeved that my dramatic reveal has been ruined."

 _Did she break my chair?_  Arthur thought. He heard a snap when she had spun the chair. "Who are you people? Why are you here?"

"Sorry we didn't mean to be so rude," the woman smiled and got up to extend her hand. "My name is Angelia Versewy," she said. When she saw that Arthur hadn't immediately returned the gesture she proceeded to grab his hand and shake it. And he just let it happen, too shocked to respond. "Here's my business card," she said.

"Business card?" Arthur asked looking at what was a plain card that just contained her name in blue lettering. There was no logo or any other kind of information just her name.

"These two are my companions, Dr. Grus Scala," Angelia pointed toward a man on her right. He had an unkept beard and his face was a mix between a scowl and a frown.

"Thank you for meeting us today," he said shaking Arthur's limp hand.

"Meeting you? But you broke into my—"

"And this," Angelia continued in stride interrupting Arthur, "is Dr. Anstice Snow."

"How do you do today?" Dr. Snow asked with a smile. He was a somewhat thirty-year-old man who sported brown hair and a 5'o clock shadow.

"I'm sorry you have me at a bit of a disadvantage," Arthur said inching toward the door. Perhaps he could make a break for it. "What exactly do you want?"

"Ah yes. Straight to the point," Angelia said. "First let me make you a chair."

 _Make?_  Arthur thought. He turned toward the two gentlemen to see that they were sitting in solid, but rudimentary chairs.  _Where did the two even get their chairs from?_

At first there was no sound. Angelia simply motioned her hand toward the floor in front of Arthur. Suddenly patches of dirt sprung up through the carpet, twisting and moving in weird shapes. It was only after a minute that a large chair made of solid earth was formed.

"What the hell?" Arthur said shocked. "How did you do that?"

"Come sit," Angelia said. "We have much to discuss."

"No, but seriously, how did you that?" Arthur started inspecting the chair, looking for any tricks, any sort of optical illusions that could make what he just saw possible.

"All will be explained," Angelia said wearing a bemused smile. "But first take a seat."

"Not until I'm done inspecting," Arthur said continuing his audit of reality. He first lifted the chair to see how heavy it was.  _Maybe it's foldable_  he thought trying to bend it in all sorts of ways. Arthur then tried to break it striking it against the walls of the office all the while the three watched his antics. Occasionally the two men would whisper as they observed him.

"Why won't this break?" Arthur yelled unleashing one final strike before he sat down breathing heavily, covered in sweat from his fifteen minute exertion.

"Satisfied?" Angelia asked.

"Well either I have been drugged, I'm in a dream, or that really just happened," Arthur shrugged. "So I might as well go along with it."

"That's the spirit," Angelia chuckled along with the two men.

"So what exactly do you want?"

"Well we've been reading your papers on theoretical physics," Angelia said. "They're quite interesting indeed."

"Oh well if it was an interview you wanted for my publication in Nature you could have scheduled a time. You didn't have to break in," Arthur said with of bit of bitterness in his tone. "I'm always happy to entertain fellow physicists."

"Yes, well you didn't make it very easy to find you Dr. Shepherd," Angelia said. "Publishing under pseudonyms really didn't help matters."

"Pseudonyms? What are you talking about?" Arthur asked raising an eyebrow.  _Could it be…_

"Really Dr. Shepherd you're going to make me spell it out?" she said imitating Arthur's raised eyebrow. "For forty years you have been publishing your theories on time travel and temporal engines in third rate obscure journals. Most of it is garbage but there are some elements of truth that we find quite remarkable that you have discovered on your own."

"Ms. Versewy, I think you're mistaken," Arthur said defensively. "I don't know anything about publishing theories."

"Really then," Angelia leaned forward on the table, "I guess those RSA encrypted messages you left on your papers were talking about a different Arthur Shepherd of Kings College."

"Wha—" Arthur said as he gasped. "How did you? No computer can break that encryption; it's impossible."

"Mr. Shepherd, you just saw me a create a chair in seconds. I think it's time to redefine your definition of impossible."

"Who are you people?" Arthur asked after a minute of silence. The two men who had been reading before had stopped before and started to pay attention; not that Arthur had noticed.

"You tell me, Dr. Shepherd. Who do you think we are?"

"You're time travelers, aren't you? That's the only way you could have broken the encryption!"

"Time travelers?" Angelia laughed. "No, we're nothing of the sort. Not yet anyway."

"But then how did you break the encryption?" Arthur asked, his expectations deflating like a balloon.

"It's just prime factorization Dr. Shepherd. We just found a faster method." Angelia said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I don't understand if you're not from the future what do you want from me?" Dr. Shepherd asked. "You read the entire message right?"

"That you want your wife and daughter to be resurrected?"

"Yes! Can you do it?" Arthur asked some of his hope being rekindled.

"Not yet I'm afraid," Angelia frowned.

"Oh I see." Arthur sank back into his chair his eyes going a little misty. "So then why are you here?"

"We're just here to ask you a few questions Dr. Shepherd."

"Like what?"

"Well," Angelia said as Dr. Snow took out a small notebook and started to transcribe their conversation. "How exactly did you formulate your theories on time travel? Your ideas alone, misguided though they may be, are worthy of a scientific revolution."

"Misguided, how exactly are my ideas misguided?" Arthur said defensively.

"More on that later," Angelia said growing a little impatient. "Can you please answer the question?"

"It was nothing more than forty years of research," Arthur shrugged.. He remembered how often he would stay into the night trying to make progress into his theories. There were countless days where he made no progress at all and even more days where every step he took forward would result in two steps back. "Though if I may toot my own own horn a little I must admit my greatest achievements were earlier this year."

"Earlier this year? What did you discover?" Angelia asked nervously.

"I think it was my own miracle year," Arthur gave a proud smile. "One day I was cleaning my office when I had the most miraculous insight. It just popped right out of nowhere into my brain, like a second voice, guiding me. I found the right equations to make sense of how it would all work."

"Make what work? Time travel?" Angelia asked.

"Of course time travel!" Arthur laughed. "Right after I figured out the correct equations I started to work into the night and it was amazing. I don't know where I got the energy from but I felt like a graduate student again."

"Really? Can we—"

"But do you know what the Holy Grail of any investigation in theoretical physics is?" Arthur asked interrupting Angelia.

"No?" Angelia sighed answering his rhetorical question.  _Doesn't like to toot his own horn indeed..._

"An experiment Ms. Versewy," Arthur said with stars in his eyes. "I have conducted three experiments that verify my hypotheses to be correct!"

 _He's this far along!_ Angelia thought. Dr. Snow and Dr. Scala were staring while eyed at the man before them. "Congratulations Dr. Shepherd! When are you going to publish you results?"

"It will be ready as early as next month," Arthur said. "Would you like to see some rough drafts?"

"Yes please," Angelia said sharing a glance with the other two who nodded in response. Arthur got up to rummage through a small brown trunk along the corner of the wall directly opposite the desk. The trunk was old, at least fifty years Angelia estimated. The brown leather was patchy and the lock had many scratches on it but there were signs an effort was made to keep the trunk in good condition. After a minute or so of rustling through his trunk he came out with three copies of his magnum opus.

"Thank you," Angelia said taking her index finger and giving a "come here" gesture. The three copies immediately fled from Arthur's grasp and moved toward each of the three.

"But how—" Arthur gaped. "How did you do that?"

Angelia simply gave a wink and placed a finger over her mouth. She motioned toward the two men who were completely absorbed into his thesis.

 _How did she do that?_ Simplicio said.

 _She's either an alien or a person with some telekinetic abilities_  Salviati responded. It had been a habit of Arthur's even since the beginning of the year to split his thought process into a dialogue between two people. It was amazing what you could accomplish if you just talked to yourself. Simplicio was light and friendly sounding while Salviati was gruff and serious. If Simplicio were summer Salviati would be winter, Simplicio water, Salviati fire, two polar opposites. Then there was the  _second voice_. In times of need the second voice would give some hints. He tried asking it questions, asking where it came from, but it never seemed to respond. Currently the voice was practically screaming to run away as far as possible.  _Better to shoot them and go to jail then stay here one minute longer. Start with the woman first,_ the voice said. But Arthur had simply ignored it and chalked his disturbing thoughts to the call of the void. Still it would do no harm be warier of the more powerful.

 _Maybe we're dreaming?_  Simplicio asked.

 _No way to prove that_ Salviati said.  _Besides no dream can be this vivid._

"Is that the temporal differential equation?" Dr. Scala whispered, his turned to be awed.

"The one-dimensional version yes," Dr. Snow replied betraying no emotion but secretly as astonished.

"How long did it take us?"

"Fifteen years," Dr. Snow said, "Now be quiet that was just the end of section four."

 _Is she even reading it?_ Simplicio asked.

 _I…don't think so_  Salviati said.

The two men conversed with each other every three minutes or so which gave Arthur some comfort. At the very least his work was interesting enough to generate discussion between these strange men. But Angelia kept turning the pages, one right after the other, only giving the briefest of glances to each page.

The sun had now started to shine its light through the windows lighting up the dusty room. "Do you want me to close the blinds?" Arthur offered. None of the three gave any response and just continued their studying. "Ok then," he said fidgeting slightly in his chair.

After what felt like an eternity, but actually had been fifteen minutes, Angelia closed the bounded book and softly placed it upon Arthur's already crowded desk. She closed her eyes and sat in her chair completely still deep in thought.

"So what did you think of it?" Arthur asked. But Angelia said nothing and simply placed her finger once again over her lips.

Five minutes later and the two had also completed their reading or at the very least scanned through it. "Dr. Shephard to put it simply we are impressed," Angelia smiled. "What took us at least a century you completed in less than half the time. Your advances in temporal engines are indeed ingenious."

"Thank you," Arthur smiled beaming with pride. But the smile vanished as quickly as it had come. "Wait did you say century?"

"Yes century Dr. Shepherd. You asked us before who we were right?"

"Uh… yes," he said. To be honest he himself had forgotten about the question.

"You can consider us a think tank for the betterment of humanity," Angelia said. "We mostly spend our time researching and advancing the sciences."

"Really?" Arthur asked. "How come I've never heard of you?"

"We like to remain discrete. It…gives us more leeway."

"Leeway?" Arthur said. It was his experience that only the more suspicious organizations would ever need leeway.  _First telekinesis, and now an ancient order? What did I get myself into?_ he thought. "But I don't understand. Why are you here?"

"Well to be frank your publications while oft derided have started to draw unwanted attention. Your discoveries will transform the world at a rapid pace, a pace I'm not sure humanity could bear without self-destruction," Angelia said.

"I'm sorry but if my results are half as good as you say they are then I must publish them," Arthur said a little incensed. "And I'm pretty sure a 'think tank' that has had hundreds of years of resources can push away this unwanted attention."

"Why?" Angelia asked getting up from her, or rather Arthur's, chair. "Why do you seek to make a time machine so desperately?"

"You read my message; you know why," he responded.

"Hmm… If we offered you your wife and daughter would you cease your research?" Angelia asked.

The world had become completely still, or at least still to Arthur. There was no sound, no light, no air, no color, there was nothing but Arthur and that question. He was completely frozen and as seconds passed, seconds that felt like eternities, he started to thaw. "Can you really do that?"

"In twenty to thirty years or so," Angelia smiled. "As I said Dr. Shepherd we're not time travelers  _ **yet**_."

"Twenty to thirty years," Arthur said. "I'm afraid it is far too long and there are too many variables. I could be dead by then. I can't just leave it up to you. Can't I just join your organization?"

"No. Not yet anyways. There are certain perquisites you must meet before you can join."

"But can't you make an exception?" Arthur pleaded. "You can keep tabs on me and we can double our efforts on the time machine."

"I'm sorry there are no exceptions. But wait a little longer and you will be rewarded," Angelia said. "In the mean time we can't have you publishing anymore."

"What are you talking about? I'm free to publish as I please and you can be damn well sure I'll have my new research published and it will be read," Arthur said bitterly.

"You fool!" Dr. Snow exclaimed as he rushed his way toward Arthur. "Don't you know the dangers your theories could cause? If any country even acts on one of your ideas it could spell disaster for the world."

"Disaster? This world is already headed for disaster in more ways than one," Arthur countered. "And now that we finally have a way to reverse our mistakes you want to bury it?"

"We're not saying stop working on it, just stop publishing it. Would you at least consider that your research is dangerous?" Dr. Snow pleaded.

"Of course, it is dangerous. That's why I'm going to need all the help I can get," Arthur said as if he were constructing a logical argument. "The only way I can get help is if I publish. Ergo, I must publish."

"Enough of this," Angelia interrupted as she pointed her hand at Arthur. He in turn instinctively went toward the gun he had hidden in his pocket, but it was too late. Arthur thought he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes before he crumpled to the floor in deep sleep.

"What should we do now?" Dr. Snow asked looking at Arthur. "It's not going to be long before he wakes up."

"It will be long enough," Angelia said. She picked up Arthur and placed him back on his chair. "You two search the room while I deal with him."

"By deal with him you…" Dr. Snow said.

"Don't worry Dr. Snow I'm only erasing his memories of our conversation. He won't be harmed."

"Then what was the whole point of having the conversation? We could have just gone in and out," Dr. Snow asked incredulously. In fact, he realized, there were a lot of things that they could have done differently to be more efficient.

"Just find it Dr. Snow," Angelia chided. He sighed as he murmured to himself about 'stupid fake names', but Angelia was too busy inspecting the sleeping doctor to hear him. She definitely felt the connection between them, a sort of echo that got louder and louder the closer they were to each other

"This must be a new experience for you," Dr. Scala said pulling up his chair beside her. He would have offered her a seat but he knew she was too excited to bother sitting. "Was it worth it then?"

"Yes Dr. Scala, I believe it was," she said as she searching Arthur giving him a preliminary check. "Look what I found." She took out a revolver from his left pant pocket. How she hadn't noticed it before was a surprise even to her.

"He didn't have that before we talked to him," Dr. Scala said, a little shocked. "When do you suppose he got it?"

"He probably pocketed it from that chest of his when he was getting the manuscripts," Angelia said feeling a little proud that he shared her high level of paranoia.

"Amazing," Dr. Scala said. "I guess he really does take after you."

"Yes I suppose he does," she said. She placed her palm on top of his forehead as she began the process to delete memories. It took a great deal of experience to configure memories accurately but fortunately, or for some unfortunately, she had become a practiced hand when it came to matters of the mind.

"How many?"

"How many what?" Angelia said raising her eyebrow. It took a bit more effort to maintain a conversation while configuring someone's mind, but she was up for the challenge.

"I know that you know what I'm talking about Ms. Versewy," Dr. Scala rolled his eyes. "So why bother with the pretense?"

"Pretension is sometimes all we have," she smiled. "Besides I've seen enough catastrophes based on dual misunderstanding of assumptions."

"I don't quite follow. What do you mean by dual misunderstanding of assumptions?"

Look it's like this," Angelia said exasperated, "You assume I'm talking about one thing and I assume you're talking about something else and one thing leads to another and now there's an invisible city on the verge of war."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Dr. Scala asked.

"Never mind it's a long story," Angelia said. She was in the last stages of her memory altercation and didn't want to leave anything to chance. A few more minutes passed before the procedure had been completed. "All done," she said rubbing her head. Memory altercation always left her with a small headache. "By the way I believe there were about one-hundred eight-seven give or take five."

"Pardon?" Dr. Scala said as he had been lost in thought. It was a hard habit to break as he often tackled stubborn mathematical conjectures.

"The answer to your question," Angelia said, "There were one-hundred eight-seven of them."

"A hundred—", Dr. Scala said intaking a sharp breath. "There is no way there could be that many. How did that even happen? What exactly were the steps that led to that?" He looked at her incredulously. "If I understand correctly then did you…"

"Let's just say," Angelia remarked tactfully interrupting his sentence, "I had a very eventful childhood."

"Eventful?" Dr. Scala snorted but took a few steps back out of fear. He knew there was nothing to fear from her, but it was instinctual. "That is an understatement if I ever heard of one."

"Relax, Dr. Scala," she laughed. "I just had a misguided youth. I've changed plenty since then. This is just another mistake from my past coming to haunt us again." At her last remark, she turned solemn. It was only now in their silence that they had noticed the pounding of the rain outside. The storm front had finally reached the university and began its torrential downpour. Angelia made her way over to the noisy window to see the effects of the rain. The once bustling street was now overrun with water as the few people who were remaining tried to find cover.  _Looks like we have a good omen_  Angelia smirked.

"Does Dr. Snow know?" Dr. Scala said interrupting her train of thoughts. The man was of course his junior, but he felt Dr. Snow had a right to know the kind of leader they were following.

"He figured it out before you," Angelia said looking around. "Speaking of Dr. Snow, where is he?"

"What do you mean? He's right he…" Dr. Scala said before realizing that he had clearly disappeared. "Where did he go? He was right here." The two started to look around the office, an office too small to lose a needle much less a man, and yet he was clearly gone.

"Ms. Versewy, Dr. Scala get in here," Dr. Snow yelled as if right on cue. "I'm behind the closet door."

"The closet door?" Angelia asked. They made their way to the closet to find that it was actually an entrance to another room. The room itself was similar to that of a classroom except there were chalkboards with equations scribbled on them on all four walls, only two chairs, and a large black desk. There were large stacks of paper and journals lining the back wall of the room. It seemed that the front office was just for show and that the real work happened around here.

"You have to see his work. It seems to be the most recent," Dr. Snow said. He had been sitting in one of the chairs reading from a manuscript and rough notes written on the page. "The ways he derives the equations are so original. I never thought to connect the ideas the way he has done before."

"First did you find it?" Angelia asked.

"Yes, it was hidden behind the books. It's secure now," Dr. Snow commented pointing to a black bag he had in his hands. "But that's not important, you have got to take a look at these notes."

She scanned through the pages Dr. Snow offered, her smile growing wider and wider. "It seems he really does take after me," she said with a sense of pride.

"I can't believe this," Dr. Scala said as he read the manuscript awestruck by its ingenuity. "This work is only twenty years behind ours. How can one man uncover so much in only one lifetime?"

"Dr. Scala it really isn't that surprising if you consider his condition," Angelia said as she studied the chalkboards.

"That… makes sense. He probably used all that processing power to come to his conclusions faster," Dr. Scala said realizing that she was quite right. That could be the only explanation of how centuries of work were finished in one lifetime.

"Are you sure we can't make an exception in his case and let him join our organization?" Dr. Scala asked.

"As much as I want to we can't make any exceptions, not even for him. He will have to wait just like everyone else," she sighed. "Besides if we leave him alone then imagine all the original work he would produce. He just needs a little nudge in the right direction." At that Angelia placed two large blue books (books that seemingly came out of nowhere) onto the black desk. "Let's see what he can do with these," she said. They made their way out of the secret room into the office where Arthur was still sleeping.

"How do we know he isn't going to publish his results?" Dr. Snow asked.

"Don't worry he won't," Angelia said. "He'll have a mad desperation to delve deeper into his research, but he will not publish his work."

"But at his age don't you think that's unreasonable? I checked his financials and he has barely enough money to take care of himself right now and that's with his tenure," Dr. Scala added.

"Yes, well it was quite fortunate that earlier today a bank account in his name worth ten million pounds was opened," Angelia said with a grin.

"No way… You didn't…" Dr. Scala said as his jaw and that of Dr. Snow dropped to the floor.

"Don't worry it was my own money. Think of it as an investment," she said as they made their way to the door. "In time, you will see that with the proper resources people can work miracles."

* * *

**January 23** **rd** **, 2018 Kings College Hospital**

"What was the dream today?" Juliet asked of her charge. The nurse/caretaker sat beside Arthur who laid in his bed. The room, as small as it was, felt comfortable enough. There was a medium sized window that let in the occasional sunlight brightening the room and chasing away the dull green color of the walls. It was supposed to be a regular checkup but for some reason, he didn't know why or how, he just knew today was the day he would definitely die.

There was this impending sense of doom, a rope that was pulling him somewhere. The few times Arthur had fought it before he had always managed to resist but now the pull was stronger than ever, and he couldn't muster up the effort. Slowly but surely, he was going to lose the battle.

"There were these monks," Arthur said remembering his latest dream.

"Monks? That's a new one," Juliet said knitting him a red sweater completely oblivious of his imminent demise. Arthur had resigned to keep that secret to himself. After all it was just another day, another early-morning debate between himself and his friend and he wasn't going to let a little thing like death disrupt his day more so than it already had. Indeed, today would be a normal day and to treat it like any other would be to let Death win. And that was simply unacceptable.

"Flying monks, if you could believe that," he smiled.

"Really?" Juliet cracked an eyebrow.

"Yes really," Arthur swallowed, a cold chill running up his spine.  _The pull's getting stronger._ "Imagine mountains so tall that they pierced clouds. Ancient skyscrapers if you will. The jagged edges, the deep chasms, and the high winds made climbing them pretty much impossible. And yet there were people living at the summit."

"I'm guessing these were the monks," Juliet offered.

"Not just monks, but women and children as well, all of them were living in this large temple on the summit of the tallest mountain."

"But how did they live on such dangerous mountains?" she asked picturing the scene in her mind. All she could think of were the dangerous precipices they would have had to navigate and the freezing air they would have had to withstand.

"That's the most miraculous part," Arthur said. "They could fly, or at the very least, leap into the air ten to twenty feet high. They jumped from one place to another around the mountains controlling the very air itself. And before you ask that wasn't an exaggeration. They literally could push and pull the wind creating these huge gusts that we could. Isn't that strange?"

"Well there is only so much sense in a dream before our imaginations take over."

"But that's the thing they didn't feel like dreams. They were so real, so vivid. They felt like memories," Arthur gulped. "I can remember the many lessons the monks taught about thinking, the many friends I had, and the games we played. It felt like… another life."

"You ever had those dreams before?" she asked without missing a beat in her knitting. Arthur thought it was amazing how she could always split her attention evenly between two different tasks. Of course, he had heard that women were better at multitasking, but this was on another level. It was literally as if there were two separate minds residing in her.

"I had them before when I was really young except I really thought they were memories," Arthur laughed. "Let me tell you it took a lot of convincing for me to realize what was real."

"Very interesting," Juliet smiled knitting the last stitch. "There how do you like it?" she said presenting the red sweater to Arthur.

"It looks wonderful," he said fitting the sweater on with Juliet's help. "It fits perfectly Juliet," Arthur said tearing up a little.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said wiping his tears away. "I'm just really grateful for a friend. Don't really have too much of those left I'm afraid."

"Arthur I will always be here," Juliet said giving him a long hug. It was now her turn to cry as tears streamed down her cheeks. "Always. You can count on that."

After they had finished their hug, Arthur looked outside the window to see that the sky was bright and clear, and the people below were bustling about, all of them oblivious to his soon-to-be demise. He had wanted the world to stop, to take some time to remember not just him but his family. But life didn't work that way, after all people had things to do, places to be, loved ones to see. It was just another regular day in London and life would march on.

"Juliet I've had many regrets," Arthur said after a moment of silence. "I've led a life of seclusion all in the vain hope of resurrecting my wife and daughter. I knew that I was probably going to die before that was a reality, so I thought I could publish my research. Maybe I could ignite a spark and one day in the future someone could make a time machine. But there was something always holding me back from publishing it. A little imperfection here, a little more information there, suddenly one day I wake up to find myself to be a hundred."

"No more of that nonsense. I don't want to hear it."

"But—"

"I said no more," Juliet said. "You lived a great life Arthur. Look at all the students you have taught. They wouldn't be who they are today if you weren't there to teach them. The lessons they learned from you they will carry on to their students."

"Thank you," Arthur said rubbing his tears away. "I really needed that. But you have to listen now." He proceeded to open the drawer next to him and took out a thick stack of papers to hand over to Juliet.

"What are these?" she said perusing through what seemed to be legal documents.

"I need you to go visit Mr. Kingsley after I pass. When he sees you he'll publish all of my research. For some reason, even when I try to tell him to publish it I always change my mind and I can't figure out why."

"Arthur I can't accept this," Juliet said after she had given them a glance, her hands starting to tremble.

"There are no ifs, ands, or buts about this," he said as forcefully as he could. "My house and my fortune are yours. I already had Kingsley go through the legal work. They're in your name now. I will not need them."

"Don't say that." Juliet wrapped his arms around as gently as she could and gave him the tightest hug possible for someone his age. "You're going to live for a long time. There are still so many adventures to be had."

"Juliet," Arthur said as he started to laugh, "I think you'll find people of my age don't really have a good track record of making it past one-hundred ten."

"Well I guess you're going to get to be one of the lucky ones."

At that Arthur started to give a warm laugh that filled the room but soon started to turn into coughing fits. "Arthur you alright?" Juliet asked as she placed her hand on his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever."

"Yes, yes I am fine. I'm just—" Arthur said trying to speak as he was coughing. "Actually, could I get some water? My throat feels really dry."

"Of course," Juliet said quickly getting up and rushing out the door. Arthur stared longingly as she left in a hurry.  _She shouldn't be here for this_ , he thought. He started to feel cold, shivers running up and down throughout his body as that pull was now becoming unbearable.

The pristine hallway was bustling with activity as doctors and nurses moved about the floor. Beeps, buzzes, and overlapping conversations completely filled the hallway much to the displeasure of Juliet. After all, how was her charge to get any sleep with all this noise?

"Oh God damn it!" Juliet said when she saw the vending machine was out of order. Just as she was about to turn and look for another vending machine she found herself rudely interrupted.

"Hello Juliet," Angelia said placing her heard right above Juliet's left shoulder. "Where's Arthur?"

"Ahh!" Juliet said leaping backwards, or perhaps falling, into the vending machine. It was only after a few seconds, that she started to stare daggers into the young woman in the white suit and top hat. "What the hell are you doing here Ms.-"

"Remember Juliet," Angelia interrupted reading her thoughts before she could say them. "We're in public. We will use our pseudonyms. But that doesn't matter now, where's Arthur?"

"Why? What's wrong?" Juliet asked her fear replacing her anger.

"He's in that room over, there right?" Angelia asked, already sprinting toward Arthur's room.

"Wait! What do you want with him?"

"Think woman," Angelia said, "If I'm here and you have a hundred-year-old patient, what do you think is happening?"

Less than a second passed before Juliet's eyes lit up in horrible realization "Oh my God! He's dying?" Juliet asked but Angelia had already entered the room.

It started off as a dull pain in his chest, something that he thought was usual for a newly minted centenarian. But then the cold sweats and arm pain started simultaneously, and it was then he knew what it was. Arthur had seen it before in other soldiers but he never thought he would go out like that. It made sense though. It was far more statistically likely that he would die from a heart attack.

"Can you help him?" Juliet asked as she watched the white suited miracle worker get to work.

"Yeah. I should be able to," Angelia said as her hands started to glow a dark blue hue. "It's just a little massive heart attack. No big deal." The glow grew larger and larger until it encompassed Arthur's entire body. "Lock the door make sure no one comes in."

"Ri—Right," Juliet stuttered in awe of the glowing light that radiated off of Arthur's body. She moved to the door instinctively moving as far as she could from Angelia. "Now Juliet make sure no one interrupts me," Angelia said. "One wrong move and Arthur might die."

Juliet simply nodded her head in fear that saying something would cause all treat power Angelia had accumulated in her hands might explode.  _Brain damage minimal_  Angelia sighed in relief. The dark blue energy at first started to swirl back and forth in a circle slowly starting to condense.

 _Now for the hard part_  Angelia thought as she doubled her concentration. The blue glow grew brighter and brighter eventually outshining natural sunlight. The room now was colored blue as Angelia condensed the hue into an object the size of her hand. It was only after a few minutes that the clump of energy started to take form and that's when Juliet realized that the miracle worker was holding a beating blue heart.

"Juliet cover your eyes," Angelia said as her only warning.

"Got it," Juliet said hiding behind a curtain and covering her eyes without any hesitation.

Once she had confirmed her friend had taken cover Angelia took the newly formed heart and slipped it right through Arthur's chest. And then there was light. A blue light so bright that it threatened to blind anyone within a twenty-foot radius. And just as it had appeared it disappeared. "Come out now! Everything's fine,"

"Fine?" Juliet asked rubbing her eyes trying to get rid of the flashes of light she saw every time she blinked. "What do you mean fine?"

"Well let's just say his heart will keep on beating even if he dies," Angelia said smiling at her handiwork. "Now we wait."

"For what?" Juliet asked.

"Him to wake up of course," she replied. "I think it's high time he joined our organization."

"Oh," Juliet said crumpling to the floor in relief. "That's good." She looked at Arthur and was surprised to see how much younger he looked. He was still a hundred of course but it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. Usually he would mumble in his sleep occasionally, sometimes even act out his dreams, but now there was nothing but peace.

"Wait how did you know he was dying?" Juliet asked once she had regained her composure.

"Today was his day," Angelia said sitting in the chair next to her bed. She proceeded to inspect Arthur's body for any other kind of damage and perhaps some clue of hidden talents.

"His day? How'd you know today was his day?"

"He told me," Angelia shrugged her shoulders.

"Right. Of course, he did," Juliet sighed rubbing her temples in confusion.  _Why does she always have to speak in riddles?_  "Do you know when he's going to wake up?"

"Why?"

"Celebrations are in order and I, unlike you, need time to prepare."

"Hmm," Angelia said furling her eyebrows in thought. "No clue. Suffering a massive heart attack usually does take a lot out of you. But he will wake up when it is time and not a moment before," Angelia said.

"I see we're speaking in tautologies now," Juliet said getting up. "I'm gonna get water. Do you want anything?"

"Apple juice, I suppose," Angelia said observing Arthur.

"Right," Juliet laughed as she exited the door. She couldn't imagine someone as old as her would still want apple juice.

She gave one last look at Arthur before closing her eyes.  _So it begins…_

"Where am I?" Arthur asked himself. The last thing he remembered was that woman in the white suit leaning over him. Just that one look at her face and all the sealed memories came rushing back in.  _How the hell did she stay the same age? No better question: How can I make her pay?_  At first what was pure rage at how much time she had cost him turned into confusion and curiosity. As soon as he saw the white woman over him all the memories started to flood back in an instant like a dam finally breaking after years of build up.

Currently he was in a white space. There was no up, down, left, or right. It was just empty space and he was the only one in it.  _Is this another one of her tricks?_  he thought.  _No wait I've been here before._  As soon as he turned around he knew it was a dream. Right in front of him was a bald blue boy floating in mid-air in a meditative pose.  _Haven't I seen him before?_

Arthur, at first, wanted to avoid the boy at all costs. There was this a dangerous energy about him, a tension that was begging to be released. But a few seconds of hesitation was all it took for him to be enraptured by the boy. The pulling force that Arthur had felt before was nothing compared to what he was experiencing now. It had, at the very least, doubled in magnitude, and pulled Arthur effortlessly toward the center of its attraction.

 _So that's where it was coming from._ Arthur reasoned getting up from the floor. There were loud whisperings that started to deafen Arthur in their intensity. He was only a few feet away from the boy when he suddenly opened his white glowing eyes and turned his head toward Arthur. The whispering stopped and there was everlasting silence.

"WAKE UP!" the blue boy yelled and so Arthur did.


	2. And So It Begins

Chapter 2: And So It Begins

"There's no way that fish can escape now," Sokka said aiming his spear toward the water.

"That's what you said the last five times. I told you we should have went somewhere else. There's too much ice here," Katara said looking into the water. Even though the afternoon sun gave off an intense glare she could still make out her reflection in the water.

"It's the South Pole. Ice is everywhere. Now shut up. I think I saw the fish."

"We've been stuck in this canoe for half the day though without a single bite." Her brother, however, gave no reply as his entire focus shifted to the water. Fishing was all about patience something Sokka knew Katara could never understand.

It was an unusually cold day even for the South Pole. Each wind gust reminded Katara of how lonely and punishing the cold desert could get. But Mother Nature was neither angry nor vindictive, she was, like Time, completely indifferent. It was a lesson that every southerner learned. Yet here was Sokka dragging her into the middle of an iceberg belt miles from the nearest tribe just to catch fish. Over time the gusts became heavier and heavier and started to churn the waters making the currents run faster.

"Sokka," Katara called trying to warn her brother. But then she saw it. Just beneath the current was a glimmer.

"What?" Sokka asked. But now it was Katara's turn to completely lose herself focusing all her energy on the fish before her. She reached her hand toward the water and started to move it slowly in a circle. The water followed her hand moving in and out around the fish trapping it in a circle.  _Now the hard part,_ Katara thought as she raised her hands up. Slowly, but surely, a small sphere of water containing a fish arose into the air.

"Look Sokka. I caught it!" Katara said with a wide grin. She motioned her hands around the fish trying to envelope layers upon layers of water around it but it proved quite difficult.

"Not now. I think I got the fish," Sokka replied. He readied his spear and pulled back only for the spear to penetrate the small sphere that Katara had formed and knocked out the fish into the water.

"Oh come on!" Katara said. "I literally had the fish in my hand."

"Katara, what were you doing? I almost had it," Sokka said drying out the water that had gotten all over him. "How come every time you play with your little water magic I get wet?"

"It's not water magic, it's bending-"

"Yes, yes," Sokka interrupted. "It's an ancient water tribe art. Just do your weirdo things on your own time."

"Sokka look out!" Katara said pointing towards their oncoming collision with an iceberg their canoe was heading towards.

"What the-" Sokka exclaimed before starting to paddle against the current.

"Watch out for the icebergs," Katara yelled holding onto the canoe as it rapidly turned.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Sokka said moving in and out of the ice. It was quite difficult to navigate such tight corners without much experience which Sokka, thankfully had in spades.

'Turn left, turn left!"

"Shut it Katara. I've got this," Sokka said turning the canoe toward the direction Katara had indicated.

However, no amount of experience could prepare Sokka, for flotillas that spun randomly into his path. The two propelled into the air and landed on top of said iceberg.

"Great now we have no food and no way to get home!" Katara said.

"It's not my fault I was distracted. Your little water bending caused this," Sokka replied with his arms crossed.

"How is it my fault? I told you coming here was dangerous."

"I knew it was a mistake bringing you along. Leave it to a girl screw this up."

"Are you kidding me?" Katara said. "You are the most sexist, immature, nut-brained idiot in the South Pole!"

"Wait Katara stop-" Sokka said his eyes widening. An iceberg thirty-foot tall and ten feet wide started to rumble under Katara's yelling. All Sokka could think was  _waterbending_ and  _angry._

"No Sokka. I'm not stopping. Ever since Mom died I have been doing all the work around camp. I even had to do your dirty laundry. Do you know how much your socks smell?" Katara said waving her arms in frustration.

"Katara seriously stop-" Sokka said backing away. half the iceberg had cracked open as some parts of the ice floated in the air and followed Katara's arms. There was a loud and distinct hissing sound, much like a snake's his, which Katara unfortunately couldn't hear.

"Shut up! I just wanted one day where I could go fishing and maybe even relax a little but no you couldn't even let me do that. From now on you can do your own laundry!"

BOOM! The iceberg exploded into several pieces and sent Katara and Sokka flying back. The duo managed to hang onto the edge of the little flotilla as the waves caused by the explosion pushed them further back.

"Congratulations," Sokka said exasperated and yet (and he would never admit this) somewhat proud, "You graduated from weirdo to freak."

"You mean I did that?" Katara said marveling at her own powers. Where there once was a small icy hill now was nothing but icy rumble floating away.

"Come on. If we leave now we can probably get home by sunset," Sokka said taking note of the position of the sun in the sky. Before him lay countless little to medium icy flotillas.  _Looks like we're going to have to earn our way home_  Sokka sighed.

"No wait. Look at that," Katara pointed toward a glowing blue region in the water. It started off as a small circle but as it grew it became proportionately brighter until a slightly smaller but more spherical iceberg took place of the hill that used to be there.

"What is that?" Sokka said gripping his spear tightly.

"Hey, do you see that?"

"What?"

"I think someone's inside it," Katara replied. Squinting her eyes she could make out the shadow of a distinct human shape. But there was something much larger that also surrounded that human figure. "Let's go find out."

"How about we just go to our nice normal home?" Sokka said but it was too late. Katara had already started to jump toward the bright iceberg using the remnants of the old one as stepping stones.

"Come on Sokka we have to save him."

"I just wanted to catch some fish. Is that too much to ask?" Sokka said to himself before following his sister.

When Katara reached iceberg she could see that it was definitely a human that was trapped in the middle of the ice. He seemed to be in some sort of a meditative pose with his hands and feet held against each other.

"Katara don't get too close. We don't know what that thing is," Sokka said pointing toward the large shadow around the boy. The large shadow circled the human figure above him

"Who is he?" Katara wondered touching the ice. The iceberg had to be at least six inches thick. It was at that moment that the boy's eyes slowly opened revealing a solid white light.

"Sokka give me the club."

"Why?" Sokka said taking the club out of his bag.

"Because he's still alive in there."

"What?"

"I just saw his eyes move."

"What?" Sokka reflexively asked. He looked again at the boy and lo and behold his eyes were now open revealing a silver light that penetrated right through the ice. "Are you sure about this?"

"We have to get him out now." Katara grabbed the club and started smashing it as hard as she could against the iceberg.

"That ice is too thick Katara. You're never going to be able to break through that," Sokka said staring at the silver eyes. He could feel some sort overwhelming power from them, so much so, that he had half a mind to drag his sister home right now.

"That doesn't mean we give up," Katara said hitting the iceberg with the hardest blow yet. A hissing sound started to come from the ice. "Look. See it's work-"

KABOOM! A huge blue light erupted from the iceberg soaring toward the sky. Sokka grabbed his sister and dove for cover as the beam of light was too bright to behold. The searing heat from the light vaporized the surrounding ice and even singed the sole of Sokka's boots. The waters swung back and forth disrupting the natural current, and though the two never saw it, the water started to switch direction and come toward the direction of the light. The very air itself seemed to pulse with energy as the two felt the vibrations rock through them. After what seemed like forever for the duo but was only a minute long the light faded.

"What in the world just happened?" Sokka said looking toward the sky to see where the beam went but there was nothing. It had suddenly disappeared just as it appeared.

"Sokka look," Katara said pointing toward the boy who was on top of the hill. His eyes were much brighter now that he was out of the ice. But it wasn't only his eyes that were bright but the arrows on his arms and head as well.

"Get back," Sokka commanded the stranger. He pushed his little sister behind him and pointed his spear toward him.

The boy looked at the brother and sister before the light faded and he fainted. He fell down the hill but luckily Katara caught him before he hit the ground.

"Is he alive?" Sokka asked tapping the boy's head with the butt end of his spear.

"Stop that. Can't you see him breathing?" Katara said, before returning her attention to the boy. For one thing he definitely wasn't from around here. While the people of the south wore blue heavy jackets, he wore a long-sleeved yellow shirt with a loose orange shawl, brown pants, and red boots. Anyone with such loose attire wouldn't last ten minutes in the south yet here he was perfectly breathing. But perhaps his strangest attributes were the arrows on his body. On each arm was a long blue arrow that started from the elbow and ended on the back end of his hand. On his bald head a large blue arrow stretched from the back to his forehead.  _There's no way he's from the Fire Nation. Is he from the Earth Kingdom?_  Katara thought.  _But then why was he stuck in the iceberg? And what was that energy?_

"Where am I?" Arthur said slowly opening his eyes. He looked up to see a young girl in a blue hood in his field of vision.

"You're in the Southern Water Tribe," Katara said helping Arthur stand up. "I'm Katara and this is my brother Sokka."

"Who are you and how did you get stuck in the ice?" Sokka said with his spear at the ready. Arthur would have properly reacted to such a weapon if he weren't so confused.

"Sokka put that away. You're scaring him," Katara chided. "But it would be nice to know who you are."

"Did you say the Southern Water Tribe?" Arthur asked scratching his head in confusion. "Where is that?"  _Why does my head feel like skin?_

"The south?" Sokka said.

"But I was in a hospital. How did I get here? Wait why are we on ice?" That's when he noticed, in the corner of his eye, a small thin arm. "Wait," Arthur said looking at his arm in horror and moving it about. "This isn't my arm!" He looked at his other arm to see that it was indeed a match for the first one and ran toward the edge of the iceberg.

"Where are you are going?" Katara asked.

Arthur however just ignored her and crouched over to look at his reflection.  _This face… It's the face of the boy in my dreams, Aang. How come I'm bald?_ Arthur thought. He was actually quite proud that he still had his hair into old age. And yet here he was as a kid already bald.  _Where is that white woman? Wasn't I having a heart attack? Am I dead? She probably has something to do with this. I know she does._   _But more importantly why the hell is there a giant blue arrow on my head?_

"What is he doing?" Sokka whispered to his sister. The two watched Arthur as he inspected his body and his reflection. For some reason, he was rubbing his head a lot.

"Maybe it's confusion caused by being stuck in ice for so long. You think he suffered brain damage?"

"Who knows? Maybe we should just leave him here and just go already."

"Sokka we can't just leave him here. He'll die," Katara said. "Just look at what he's wearing. There is no way he's going to survive out here."

"He was already stuck in ice and survived," Sokka said shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe that's his hobby."

"Hey aren't you cold?" Katara asked walking over to Arthur.

"Cold?" Arthur asked. And just like that the malcebo went to work. He put his arms around his chest and started shivering. "Now that you mention it is freezing. Where are we?"

"The Southern Water Tribe! I just said that." Sokka yelled "Don't you know where it is?"

"Uhh… In the south?" Arthur said through his chattering teeth.  _How in the world did that woman put me in the South Pole? No wait better yet why did she put me here?_

"Yes…" Sokka said motioning to his sister that he might be crazy. "Katara I'm going to look around. You stay with him." Sokka then began his search for that large shadow.

"Come on!" Katara said. "I have an extra jacket in my bag".

"Thanks," Arthur said. "I just can't believe this dream is so vivid. It actually feels so cold."

"Dream? What dream?"

"How am I not dreaming? This is too ridiculous to be real. There is no way I'm actually in the South Pole."

You're not in a dream. You're awake." Now it was Katara's turn to look in confusion. Maybe he really did suffer brain damage. She handed him a jacket, which he quickly put on.

"That feels so much better," Arthur said as he rubbed his arms again to generate heat.  _I'm probably on some really powerful drugs. But what drug can cause such a vivid hallucination? Morphine maybe? Did I get tapped with LSD? I actually feel cold. That's never happened before. Wait… wasn't I dying?_

"Hey so do you remember your name?" Katara asked.

"Yeah it's Arthur," he said.

"Arthur? That's such a weird name," Katara remarked.

"What are you talking about? That's a common -AH-AH-ACHOO!" Arthur said before he sneezed. Unexpectedly he launched himself thirty feet into the air.

"Whoa!" Katara said in shock.

"Oh my god! What the hell?" Arthur yelled as he flew straight up fighting the bitter winter air pushing against him. He twirled right through the air, spinning, flailing, all against his will.  _Flying… Yep definitely in a dream_  he thought.

"Sokka look," Katara said looking for her brother. "He's flying!"

"Who's flying?" Sokka followed Katara's finger toward the sky. "What the-" Sokka said as his jaw followed the appropriate reaction. It was unfortunate then when the large shadow moved toward him.

"Wait how do I stop?" Arthur asked flailing his arms about. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, gravity shortly answered the question.

"Ahh!" Arthur quickly plummeted toward the Earth.  _What a short-lived dream…_

Just as he was about to hit the ground gusts of air were generated underneath him that slid Arthur right into a pile of snow that had formed when the light beam had melted through the solid ice.

"Are you alright?" Katara asked running toward him. Sokka was about to follow suit but then he heard a low growl in the other direction.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Arthur said pulling himself out of the snow.  _How did I even survive that fall?_ He studied his hands closely and for a second he felt like his hands had pushed the air away when he had fallen. Arthur tried to do it again but nothing happened this time.  _What was that wind?_

"Are you an airbender?" Katara asked excitedly, a million questions popping in her head. She started to inspect the boy as if he were an antique. "I can't believe you're an actual airbender! Wait till Gran Gran hears about this. Are there any other airbenders?"

"Airbender? What's that?" Arthur gave her a puzzled look, which she in turn returned.  _Wasn't that a word I made up when I was a kid?_  he thought.

Katara clearly recognized the tattoos that only air nomads would where from old paintings that Gran Gran had.  _Does he have amnesia?_

"IT'S ALL OVER ME!" Sokka yelled.

"What happened?" Katara ran and Arthur quickly followed.

"Katara stay back. There's a giant-OH NO, NOT AGAIN!" A low rumble followed causing the small iceberg to swing back and forth in the water. The two stumbled but arrived to find Sokka slowly crawling on the ice.

"Sokka are you ok?" Katara said before covering her mouth in horror. "What is that all over you?"

"It sneezed on me-twice," Sokka replied pointing to around the corner of the iceberg. "Can this day get any worse?

Both Arthur and Katara turned the corner and stared in shock. A giant white bison stood before them. About twenty feet long and eight feet wide the white-furred bison returned their stare in a mix of interest and curiosity. It had a gray underbelly, six legs, two large horns, and a six-foot wide tail. But perhaps its most striking feature was the brown arrow that started from the back and ended in the middle of the beast's face.

"Arthur?" Katara said turning toward him. "Is that your… pet?"

However, Arthur didn't respond but instead continued to stare at the beast. He was paralyzed as his brain tried to understand what it was seeing.  _Six legs? A bison with six legs? Hold on I know that bison but from where?_

With that one question a flood of memories started to rush in. Suddenly Arthur saw a vision of his five year old self drawing a picture of the bison. He handed it to Jane and told stories of a small boy riding on a flying bison.

His next memory was of another time and place. Arthur saw visions of a large mountaintop in a sea of clouds. The sun was setting which made the golden temple glisten in a peculiar, yet beautiful, way. In the fields below the temple there was a young bald boy chasing a small white fluffy cloud of an animal. There were other children as well each, sporting a blue arrow, playing with their own baby bison.

Each memory that Arthur remembered brought two more to the forefront. Millions of neurons started firing off in an exponential runaway of associative reactions digging up memories of what seemed to be another life. It was overwhelming but beautiful in its own right like a long-awaited puzzle finally being solved.

"Arthur you ok?" Katara asked as Arthur tumbled toward the ground overwhelmed with his visions.

"What happened?" Arthur said breaking out of his trance.

"I don't know. You saw the bison and you sort of froze up. Is he yours?"

"He's my… friend," Arthur said contemplating on his memories. He carefully walked toward the giant beast. "I think Appa is his name."

Hearing his name, Appa stood at attention. He looked around for the origin of the voice and started panting excitedly when he saw his best friend.

"Arthur be careful," Katara said taking a few steps back. She saw the bison slowly make its way toward them crushing the hard ice in its way.

"No worries, Katara. He's gentle," Arthur said walking toward him.  _At least I hope he is._  It was a strange feeling that he had: like water flowing downhill, or time flowing forward. Arthur just knew what he was saying was perfectly right. He didn't know how he knew but like a moth to a flame he couldn't resist walking toward Appa.

"You're a good boy? Aren't you?" Arthur said, hesitantly rubbing Appa's nose.  _He loves being rubbed there,_ he instinctively thought to himself. "I can't believe you're actually real." Appa licked Arthur in response as a sign of approval.

"So he's your pet?" Sokka said through chattering teeth as he used his spear to help rub the mucus off his jacket. He thought about using the water to wash his jacket but then he would have to deal with the hypothermia.

"More like a friend, but yeah I think so," Arthur said. Seeing Sokka's state he added, "I'm sorry. Appa sneezes often when he's cold."  _Where are all these memories coming from?_

"What kind of animal even is that?" Sokka asked, his curiosity temporarily overpowering his oncoming hypothermia.

"It's a sky bison," Arthur replied.

"Bisons don't have six legs."

"Yeah that's why it's a sky bison," Arthur replied automatically as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  _Seriously, how did I know that?_  He thought.  _What even is this? Is Juliet still waiting for me?_

"Right…," Sokka said rolling his eyes. "Katara how are we going to get home by sunset?"

"Ah! You're right," Katara remarked, "We could have been home by now if you hadn't crashed the ship."

"Your water bending caused this. Don't pin this on me."

"My water bending? It was your reckless steering," Katara said crossing her arms. "Why do you have to be such an arrogant idiot?"

"Why do you have to be annoying brat?" Sokka yelled.

"Guys, guys," Arthur said. "It's ok. We can just fly on Appa."  _Wait Appa can fly?_ Arthur thought incredulously. He searched these new visions of his and indeed saw that Appa could fly.  _Great so the laws of aerodynamics have been thrown out the window. Damn that white woman._

"There is no way that bison can fly," Sokka said pointing toward the animal. Appa, in turn, just looked lazily back at Sokka and yawned.

"I think he can." Arthur climbed Appa and took hold of Appa's reins. "Are you two getting on?"

"You think?" Sokka said, "Well I think I'll walk home."

"Well you can stay here and freeze to death," Katara teased as she was already sitting beside Arthur. "I'll just ask Gran Gran for your room."

"Ugh. Fine, I'll get on Appa." Sokka climbed up the fluffy tail onto Appa's back and sat in the back next to Katara. "So how does he fly?"

"Um...," Arthur said trying to remember. "I don't remember. I think I had to say a catchphrase…"

"A catchphrase? Are you sure you're all there in the head?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka!" Katara scolded.

"What? I'm just saying."

"Was it yip yip?" Arthur said as a suggestion. With that Appa slowly got up and using his tail, pushed himself off the iceberg.

"Get ready guys and hold on tight," Arthur braced himself for the rush of air that was about to come. But it never came. Instead Appa only leapt six feet into the air and made a huge splash into the ice water.

"Wow," Sokka said with his arms folded, "We're really flying now."

"I think he might be tired," Arthur said. Appa yawned in agreement. "At least we'll still be able to get to the village."

"You're right Arthur," Katara stared daggers at her brother who tried his best to ignore her. "Thanks for the lift."

"No thank you for getting me out of the ice. Now I just got to figure out what's going on..."

"Hang on," Sokka said, "Your name is Arthur? What kind of name is that?" Sokka just realized that they were getting aid from a complete stranger found in ice. He didn't know a single thing about him and yet here he was helping them.

"Sokka don't be rude," Katara said. "It could be just part of air nomad culture."

"He's an airbender? I thought they all-"

"Shhh!" Katara said interrupting her idiot brother. "I think he has amnesia. He doesn't need to know about that now."

"Oh about my name," Arthur said, "Just call me Aang."

"But I thought your name was Arthur," Katara remarked.

"No," Aang said as he lied down on Appa's head.  _When in Rome..._  "I misspoke earlier. I'm Aang." He stared at the blue open sky lost in his thoughts.  _What the hell is going on..._?


	3. Search & Discover

If there was one word that Zuko could use to describe the South Pole it was boredom. Sheer and utter boredom. Sure there was the occasional animal like the penguin or seal that made for some entertainment but after a month and a half of the same blue sky, a sea full of literal obstacles, and buffeting chilly winds it had become torture.  _How could anyone live here?_  he thought.

"Any news?" Zuko asked.

"No Prince Zuko," the officer coughed. "Nothing so far."

"No other villages were spotted?" Zuko asked slightly flinching from the pain of the direct sunlight hitting his scar. It had been three years since he had received the second degree burn that ran across his left eye. The scar had completely healed by this point but whenever he was in direct sunlight there was this odd tingling sensation that felt like needles lightly dancing on face.

"No Prince Zuko," he replied. "Are you alright sire?"

"Yes I'm fine," Zuko said covering his left eye with his hand. "Keep me updated Wu Li," He sighed making his way from the stern to the bow.

"Good afternoon Prince Zuko. How goes your studying?" Iroh asked taking a sip from a teacup. "Come join me for some soothing jasmine tea."

"It's going well Uncle," Zuko said taking a seat next to him, glad his uncle had decided to sit under the shade of the mast. It helped that the smoke rising from the stack extended the range of the shade. "Didn't you drink some tea this morning?"

"Ah Zuko. One can never have enough tea," Iroh took another sip. "After all it's nourishment not just for the body but for the soul. Have some," Iroh said pouring some tea for Zuko before he could protest.

"Uncle, the Avatar could be anywhere. Even over there," Zuko said pointing to a far-off icecap. "What if we miss the Avatar just because we were drinking jasmine tea?"

"Zuko," Iroh laughed. "I thought you spent all morning studying."

"I did—"

"Then you really need to brush up on your past rationality lessons," Iroh smiled. "I know how boring they can be. When I was your age I often used them to put myself to sleep at night. But," Iroh smile faded a little, "it's important that you learn them when you can. One day your life will depend on these lessons. Trust them and they will never betray you."

"Uncle, you don't understand," Zuko said slightly annoyed by the undeserved lecture. "The Avatar is probably here in the South Pole. There's no other explanation."

"Really? Do explain," Iroh smiled.

"Our family has scoured the world for a hundred years searching for the Avatar. We have sent countless spies to the Earth Kingdom and even some to the Northern Water Tribe only to return with nothing. We even searched our own nation..Not even a shadow to chase. The Southern Water Tribe is the only place left to search."

"But your grandfather had already searched through the Southern Water Tribe."

"The Avatar could have moved around. Maybe he was in the Earth Kingdom while Grandfather was searching here. Whatever the case it's high time we searched the South Pole."

"Well while your argument does make sense the original point still stands. It wouldn't hurt to sit down and drink tea. The chances of the Avatar appearing right now are pretty small."

"But what if he's hiding and we miss the tiniest detail?"

"You already spent two minutes arguing with me," Iroh gave a deep laugh. "You could have missed your chance right then." Zuko didn't reply but just gave deep growl of annoyance and a stern glare.

"Don't worry," Iroh said putting his arm around his nephew. "If the Avatar were to appear there would be a great big sign and everyone in the world would know."

"Really? How do you know?"

"There are certain legends," Iroh shrugged.

Now it was Zuko's turn to give a laugh but laced with a little scorn. "Legends? We can't put all our stock in old tales. I thought you were supposed to be the master rationalist."

"Zuko when you get to be my age you'll see the world in a different light," Iroh said in contemplation, his smile replaced with a solemn look. "There are hidden forces that move about the world."

"Hidden forces?"

"Never you mind," Iroh said his smile returning. "Finish your tea before it gets too cold."

"Right," Zuko sighed before taking a sip.  _Huh… It really is delicious_  he thought. "What do you think happened to him?"

"Who?"

"The Avatar?"

"We—" Iroh said before he was too shocked to continue, his jaw dropping to the floor.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He turned toward the direction where Iroh was looking and noticed a bright silver-white light twinkling in the distant horizon.  _What is that?_

Suddenly a silver-white beam rushed toward the sky exponentially growing brighter and brighter threatening to outshine the sun. "Look away!" Iroh yelled shielding his eyes and Zuko followed suit. Everyone on board the ship ran for cover as a second sun had now appeared in the sky.

 _That's so weird,_  Zuko thought. There was definitely a dangerous tension in the light like a feral dog on a leash just waiting to be set free. But paradoxically there was also this sensation of warmth and peace, a reassurance that everything would be alright. A full minute passed before the silver-white light started to weaken and peter off into the atmosphere.

"What was that?" Zuko asked. He tried looking toward the source of the light but found that everything had gone back to normal. Other soldiers had also ran to the port side trying to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon. "Uncle? Are you alright?" he asked, but there was no response. Iroh had become a statue, too gobsmacked to move.  _Did that just happen?_

"Uncle?"

"Yes Zuko?" Iroh replied falling into a sitting position.

"What was that?"

Iron slowly turned around to face his nephew and for the first time in his life Zuko saw apprehension and nervousness in his uncle. "A great big sign."

"You don't mean…" Zuko said his eyes wide with shock. But Iroh simply nodded his head as he looked toward the horizon.

"Helmsman! We have no time to lose. Set a course for the light beam!" The gray steel steamship bellowed as its billowing smoke slowly changed direction. "Get ready for the Avatar," Zuko yelled and the crew immediately started to run about making preparations.

Iroh, however, was too deep in thought to pay attention to the commotion. His palm tightened around a white lotus Pai Sho piece between has hands.  _So the hands of fate have finally started to move._

* * *

"You go talk to him," Sokka said.

"I don't want to talk to him. Why don't you do it?" Katara asked.

"He's just sitting there, talking to himself. It's kind of creepy."

"Oh look at the famous Sokka, Defender of the Southern Water Tribe, too afraid to talk to a boy."

"Fine," Sokka said in surrender. "If it'll shut you up for five minutes." He climbed across Appa to where Aang was sitting only to find him sitting in a meditative trance. "I think he's sleep talking," Sokka whispered when he got back to where Katara was.

"Sleep talking?"

"Or meditating and talking to himself," Sokka said. "His eyes are closed and he's holding his fists together."

"Really?"

"Yeah like how we found him in the ice."

"Interesting," Katara said staring at the boy.

 _All right it's time to think,_ Aang thought.  _Understand, Plan, Execute, and Review_. The four steps to solving any problem. It was George Polya, a Hungarian mathematician, who had formulated this procedure in his wonderful book  _How To Solve It._  And from the moment Aang had discovered this book he had fallen in love again. For the next seventy years he had always kept a small copy on his person, a reminder to follow the heuristic method whenever possible.

"The first step: Understand. What exactly is the problem? What is the unknown?" Simplicio asked.

"Where to begin? There is so much that we don't know. I have way too many questions," Salviati said.

"Well if we want to get our bearings then let's start from first principles. The first question: Who am I?"

"I am Arthur Shepherd... or am I Aang? Or am I both Arthur and Aang? Or was I Arthur and now Aang?" Salviati said.

"Be more specific."

"I was in the hospital suffering from a heart attack. That was my last memory of Arthur Shepherd. At the time I was a hundred years old. Now I am a twelve-year-old bald boy in the middle of the South Pole."

"Do you have memories of Arthur and Aang?" Simplicio asked.

"I definitely remember my old life as Arthur…and there are flashes of Aang's life." Salviati replied. "There doesn't seem to be enough information to answer the question."

"Nonsense!" Simplicio said. "We just haven't explored enough. Perhaps we should start from a less metaphysical, more concrete question."

"Like what?"

"How the hell did we get here? In the South Pole?"

"Maybe we're not even really here Salviati said. "Maybe we're dreaming."

"Dreaming?" Simplicio said in disbelief. If he could he would smack Salviati in frustration. "How could a dream be this vivid? This…real?"

"Or it could be the result of something biochemical?" Salviati offered sheepishly. "Are we hallucinating?"

"There is no way there is a drug that can make hallucinations this real."Simplicio said as Aang shivered as proof.

"How do you know? You saw what that white woman could do. If her organization can invent time travel, then inventing a simulation this vivid seems within the realm of possibility. Besides people often delude themselves that they see heaven when they are close to death. Perhaps these hallucinations are the result of serotonin or some other drug being released as we slowly die," Salviati retorted.

"I have no way in proving a negative. In fact, this could all be a dream in which case this is the most realistic dream we've ever had. But whether this is a hallucination or dream there is no way to falsify such a hypothesis."

"Fine let's assume that all of this is real. Then what are possible hypothesis for how we ended up being twelve years old?" Salviati asked

"I've got a list:

1\. We're in a dream/hallucination.

2\. We were transported to the South Pole, had our consciousness placed into the mind of a twelve-year-old boy who we've been having visions of (To what end?).

3\. After I died, I was reincarnated (there might be an afterlife?) into this boy with memories of my previous self.

4\. I am stuck in some sort of alien or government simulation. I am a brain in a vat.

5\. Perhaps Last Thursdayism is true. The world could have been built by a God-like figure last Thursday and all my memories, including everyone else's, are built into our minds."

"One and five are unfalsifiable. Three seems improbable," Salviati said.

"But not impossible."

"Yes well, I suspect it would be very difficult to prove. I'll put it aside for now."

"Fine, what about four?" Simplicio asked.

"Well that's an easy one. We build a supercomputer that calculates to more and more accurate decimal places of pi. If we ever run into a limitation, then that means we have reached the physical limitations of the simulation."

"There are two problems with that suggestion," Simplicio replied. "The first being that experiment only works if this world is a simulation. If not then we'll never know. Second if we are in a simulation then that means we can always be tricked into thinking when we haven't reached the limits of pi."

"But we can always check the numbers for accuracy. We can always prove this to ourselves," Salviati said.

"Until the beings running the simulation trick our checking method, convince us our proof is right, and so on... If we are indeed in a simulation, we are at their mercy."

"Guess we got another unfalsifiable. That leaves us with choice two," Salviati said.

"But why? Why would someone even do something that intricately absurd?"

"Because Angelia Versewy is a bitch. That's why."

"Hey no swearing!" Simplicio said.

"They're my thoughts. I can think whatever I want."

"Look let's table these existential questions for the moment. Two does seem the most reasonable... which really isn't saying a lot. If we accept it, what do we know?

"Apparently, we're an airbender, which I believe gives us the ability to bend air... or at least that's what the girl told us," Salviati said.

"Maybe the girl is crazy?" Simplicio pondered. "Then again I did survive a thirty-foot fall… What else do we know?"

"We're in the South Pole, there are two bickering children behind me, and we're riding on a giant bison with six legs that can fly."

"Right... how do we know this again?" Simplicio asked.

"We're riding on top of it right now!" And indeed below Aang's legs Appa was currently blowing bubbles into the ice water.  _Aww… so cute._

"Focus!" Simplicio said. "There's no time to be mesmerized by Appa… Even though he is pretty cute."

"Right?" Salviati said as Aang started to scratch Appa's head unconsciously. "So what's the plan for now?"

"Ah yes the second step," Simplicio said. "We quickly get back to London, transfer all our money to a foreign account, and immediately go into hiding. Perhaps move to the States or, more likely, some South American country."

"Right but how are we going to get out of here?"

"We could just hitch a ride on a cruise ship."

"I don't think we can just get on a cruise in the middle of it," Simplicio said. "Besides how are we going to sneak Appa through?"

"Oh shit! That's right," Salviati realized. "There's no way we can go into hiding with a multi-ton animal that can fly. Maybe we can get out of here at night."

"And you don't think any government would detect us?" Simplicio asked.

"We'd stick to the ground and move slow. RADAR won't pick us up."

"One picture from a fisherman's smartphone or satellite and we're SOL. Every country would hunt us for Appa. Not to mention that apparently some humans can bend air. My plan is that we go to a remote island under the cover of night and hide there for now." Salviati sighed.

"Sounds like a plan. Also I just realized how hungry we are," Simplicio said. At that Aang's stomach growled in anger of being denied food. "Maybe they have sandwiches or something to eat."

"What was the girl's name again?"

"It started with a K. Kat, Karen, Katelyn, or something."

"It was Katara," Katara said with her arms crossed. She had a bemused expression that was a mixture of anger and curiosity. "I can't believe you forgot my name. It hasn't even been an hour yet."

"What?" Aang said slowly opening his eyes to see Katara standing before him.

"My name's Katara."

"How… How did you know what I was thinking?"

"You were talking to yourself out loud!"

"I was?" Aang said in even more confusion.

"Yeah. Were you sleep talking?"

"No I was thinking," Aang said.

"More like thinking out loud," Katara said.

"Umm… How much did you hear?" Aang asked guiltily.

"Why should I tell you? Apparently, you think I'm crazy."

 _Oh good she only heard the last bit._  Meanwhile Sokka started laughing. It was strange seeing his sister interrogating someone else for a change. "I'm really sorry. I didn't really mean that you were crazy; it's just what you were saying sounded crazy."  _I should not have said that._

"Oh ok," Katara said, a little smile on the edge of her face.  _I wonder how far I can carry this._ "This coming from the boy who talks to himself."

"No, no," Aang said nervously, "I meant that I couldn't understand what you were saying at the time. I got out of the iceberg and you started talking about water bending and such and I was really confused.

Katara judged in silence for a few more seconds before she asked, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you talk to yourself?"

"Oh that," Aang said, "I thought I was thinking. I guess I didn't pay attention and started talking to myself."  _Note to self: Check before talking to self… And try not to insult people when thinking._

Katara proceeded to sit down beside Aang as she rummaged through a bag. "Here's some blubbered seal jerky," Katara said.

"Wait don't give him that," Sokka said.

"Why not? Did it go bad?"

"No. But I didn't get to eat anything the whole day. You know," Sokka said, "on account of you making me lose the fish."

"That was your fault, not min I told you we should have gone fishing somewhere else!" Katara yelled. "Besides can't you hear how hungry he is."

"Hear?" As if it were listening in on the conversation, Aang's stomach gave out a loud growl in response pleading for food. "Fine Aang you can have the jerky."

"Are you sure?" Aang asked. "I really don't want to impose."

"No, no. It's no big deal," Sokka said. "We have plenty at home and we're almost there anyway."

"Thanks," Aang said as he gobbled down the jerky as quickly as he could. Usually he would have objected considering he didn't want to know what blubbered seal tasted like, but he was too hungry to care.  _It's actually really good_  he thought.

"Aang?" Katara asked staring at him in curiosity.

"Yeah Katara?"

"What's a cruise ship?"

Aang almost choked on the jerky in shock. But after ten seconds of struggle he managed to stomach it down. "It's one of those giant ships that visit the South Pole every so often. It has a lot of people on it." He had hoped that his explanation would be enough, but the girl became even more confused.  _Maybe she's never seen one before…_

"You mean a Fire Nation ship?"

"What's a Fire Nation ship?" Aang asked turning his attention to the elder sibling.

"A ship from the Fire Nation…" Sokka said in disbelief. "I thought airbenders were supposed to be smart."

"Wait so is Fire Nation the name of a cruise line?" Aang asked filing the second statement away for future discussion.

"Depends," Katara said, "Is a cruise line another name for a country?"

"No see," Aang replied, "A cruise ship is just a group of people who get on a ship and travel the world while vacationing. I was hoping I could sneak aboard one and make my way towards a warmer climate."

"Well a Fire Nation ship is just a group of people who get on a ship, travel the world, and kill, pillage, and destroy everything in their path," Sokka said with disgust.

"Oh… Sorry, I didn't know."

"Ignore my brother,"  _Katara_  said shooting Sokka a piercing glance while he simply crossed his arms. "He just hates the Fire Nation."

"No I understand," Aang said.  _So the Fire Nation are pirates?_  But that thought was overshadowed by a startling new one that popped into his mind.

 _If this is the South Pole, then why are there a pair of siblings here? Shouldn't there just be scientists?_  Simplicio said.  _Something isn't right here._

 _Well they're part of a tribe, Water Tribe or something._  Salviati replied.

_But that's the thing. The only tribes that live or have lived in icy regions are in the North. No civilization or tribe ever lived in the Antarctic._

_Maybe they just recently moved here…_

_Or I think we just made some really huge assumptions,_  Simplicio said.

 _What are you… oh shit_ , Salviati said before he too understood.

"Aang? Are you there?" Katara asked waving her hand before his eyes.

"What? What happened?" Aang asked.

"You zoned out there for a couple of seconds. You ok?"

"No time for that now," Aang said nervously as he got up. "I have a few questions for you two that might sound a little strange."

"Too late," Sokka sighed.

"How many countries are there?" Aang asked ignoring Sokka's comment.

"Four…" Katara said. "Why do you want to know?"

"Four?" Aang said, his voice rising higher. "There are only four countries in the entire world?"

"Yeah. The Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the Air Nomads."

"So you never heard of the United States or United Kingdom?"

"No," Katara crocked an eyebrow. Sokka meanwhile tried to ignore them but found himself eavesdropping. "Are those supposed to be countries?"

"Yes," Aang said.  _This can't be happening. This can't be real._  He had almost started to panic but his curiosity overwhelmed his fears of the truth.  _What the hell's going on?_  "What year is it?"

"What?" Sokka and Katara both said in unison.

"What's the current year?"

"Three thousand seven hundred sixteen," Katara said.

"Holy hell I'm in the future," Aang said as he started to talk to himself. "No wait, I'm still making too many assumptions. If this is the future, why are they speaking perfect English? Seventeen hundred years would be more than enough time for a language to evolve and yet they're speaking English."

"What in the world are you talking about?" Sokka said.

"So it's not the future then," Aang said, too involved in his thinking to hear Sokka. "Or… maybe it can be. What if their calendar is shorter because they live in the South Pole? It still could be the future just not as far as I thought. I have to get more fundamental. What is the simplest question I can ask?"

"Hello? You there?" Sokka said but the boy kept ignoring him as he paced back and forth.

"Just give me a little leeway here," Aang said putting a finger over his mouth at Sokka. "Katara, how many hours are there in a day?"

"Twenty-four. Why?"

"Because I don't know where I am. Now quick, how many days are there in a year?"

"Three hundred sixty-five and what do you mean you don't know where you are? You're in the South Pole!"

"Exactly what it sounds like Katara," Aang said stopping for a moment from his restless pacing. "Though if I'm correct it sounds like I'm on Earth, right?"

"Sokka is he having a meltdown?" Katara whispered to her brother. Maybe being trapped in the ice had indeed caused brain damage.

"Looks like it or maybe he's hallucinating. It could be the bends," Sokka replied.

"Guys seriously are we on Earth?" Aang asked again, growing anxious at their whispering.

"Yes Aang you're on Earth," Sokka sighed. "Now will you stop acting crazy. I think you're annoying Appa." At that Appa bellowed loudly to sound his irritation.

"Oh sorry buddy," Aang replied scratching Appa where he had walked to which Appa hummed in relief. "I'm sorry guys I just had somewhat of an existential nightmare. I thought I was on an alien planet or something."

"Buy why would you think that?" Katara asked.

"No don't get him started again!" Sokka said.

"Well," Aang said, "There used to be more than one-hundred ninety countries."

"A hundred and ninety? But there's always been four nations."

"Yes well it seems I have time traveled," Aang said. He didn't know if it was the shock of too many revelations or because he was too tired to care but time travel seemed mundane by comparison. He knew it was inevitable, he just didn't know he would actually undergo it himself.

"Time travel?" Sokka asked, too incredulous to obey his own rule of not asking questions. "You went through time?"

"Seems like it Sokka," Aang grinned. "Honestly it's not so bad considering you two speak English."

Sokka immediately tried to stop his sister but she simply pushed him aside and sat down next to Aang. "What's English?"

* * *

It was almost evening and there was nothing but ice for miles. In the distance there a trail of smoke lining the sky coming from a mid-class iron clad cruiser. If you looked carefully you would be able to see strange orange glows on the vessel fluttering on and off.

"Remember you must breathe from within," Iroh said as he watched his nephew fight against two firebenders.

"That's how everyone breathes!" he yelled dodging a fire ball from his attacker. He responded in kind to the fire ball by launching his own at the firebender who simply dispelled the attack.

"Focus Zuko," Iroh yelled as the second firebender swept his leg underneath him in an attempt to gain control but Zuko had jumped while simultaneously launching two fire blasts, one from each leg. The two benders tried to dodge but the blasts were too sudden and the two flew back in opposite directions.

"Good but you can do better," Iroh said sitting down as he fanned himself with a small paper fan. The air around a firebending fight would always become heated, especially with three benders fighting at once.

"I understand Uncle," Zuko said before turning toward the two benders, who were already up on their feet. The two had been wearing the standard fireproof armor that all soldiers, including Zuko, wore. "You two are dismissed. Thank you for taking the time to help."

"Thank you Prince Zuko!" The two bowed and made their way into the resting quarters.

"Uncle I need to learn the advanced set. I've already mastered the basics," Zuko said sitting next to Iroh.

"A strong foundation is necessary before you continue," Iroh said as he slurped from some of his duck soup. "You have almost mastered the basics, but you aren't quite there yet."

"But Uncle we're going to be facing against an Avatar who's had a hundred years to perfect his craft. I need something more than the basics to face him!"

"You think learning the advanced set will help against a hundred-year-old Avatar?" Iroh crocked an eyebrow.

"It will help even the odds."

"Zuko, you are only sixteen. It is a wonder you've already come as far as you have with just the basics," Iroh said as he gazed at the dusk sky. The sunset today covered the sky in a brilliant fiery orange.  _The years really do fly by when you get older_  Iroh thought. "Be careful not to rush too fast or you will set yourself on fire."

"Uncle, as much as I enjoy your sayings, I don't have time for them. I need to learn the advanced set."

"No, no," Iroh cracked a small smile. Perhaps he did wax a bit poetic one too many times. "I literally mean you will set yourself on fire if you try to rush through learning the advanced set."

"Really?" Zuko gawked. A firebender could easily burn another, that he knew from experience but somehow it never came to him that a firebender could accidentally set himself on fire.

"Of course. After all what's the first rule of firebending?" Iroh asked.

"Fire is alive."

"Exactly. Fire. Is. Alive. It is a living creature ready to betray you if you don't give it the proper respect. I remember when I was your age I learned that the hard way."

"What happened?" Zuko asked, his curiosity peaked. For some reason, his uncle was quite secretive about the past so of course Zuko took every opportunity he could to explore it.

"Well I too wanted to learn the advanced set. Instead of listening to my teacher I rushed ahead and started practicing inside the palace. One thing led to another and I set the whole room on fire," Iroh laughed.

"I can't picture you setting a room on fire," Zuko said trying hard not to snicker.

"That wasn't the worst part. After the guards and I put out the fire your grandmother almost started it again when she found out what I tried to do!"

"Really?" Zuko asked as he pictured the portrait of his grandmother. He couldn't even imagine that sweet old woman running much less firebending.

"Of course! Despite what you might think your grandmother was a dragon or at the very least had the temperament of one. I still remember how she chased me around the palace throwing fireballs left and right! The guards ran right after her putting out every fire she started."

"That can't be right," Zuko laughed. "All that over trying to learn firebending?"

"No Zuko, that's what you must understand. My mother was right to be angry."

"Why? Wasn't she also firebending uncontrollably?"

"No I'm pretty sure she intentionally missed each time," Iroh smiled. "I said she had the temperament of a dragon not the rashness. She just wanted to scare me. I… just didn't know at the time."

"Well all's well that ends well," Zuko commented.

"No you have to understand Zuko," Iroh said, his tone now grim. "That day I was very close to erupting my chi lines. If I made just a little mistake: a little spark falling unnoticed, a breath drawn too quickly, a fuel too rich, then I would have immediately exploded. Fire is alive." Iroh took out his hand and summoned a small ball of fire. "And will do anything to live and grow. Even burn its master." At that the small bulb exponentially grew into a three-foot sphere levitating above Iroh's head. Zuko could even see the line of chi emanating from his hand and fueling the fireball. "All it takes is a single misstep." Iroh moved swiftly as he danced through the fireball startling his nephew and in an instant the fire had vanished without a trace.

"How did you do that?" Zuko gaped. Not even the fire performers at the circuses he went to as a kid could do that.

"By mastering the basics," Iroh grinned as Zuko's jaw fell to the floor.

"I see," Zuko sighed. "Would you be able to face the Avatar?"

"What do you exactly mean face the Avatar?"

"I mean," Zuko said looking at his uncle, "would you be able to capture him?"

"Hmm… Probably not."

"Really? He's still that powerful after a hundred years?"

"Avatar Kyoshi was still in her prime when she was two hundred years old," Iroh laughed. "But no. It's not his power I fear, but his cunning."

"His cunning?" Zuko asked flabbergasted. "Isn't he the master of all four elements?"

"Zuko," Iroh said, this time taking his turn to sigh. "If he were just a bender who could control all four elements then I might be able to capture him. After all, a layman with power is still just a layman. But an Avatar's most dangerous weapon is their cunning."

"But with your experience, I'm pretty sure you could match him. Couldn't you?"

"There's no chance," Iroh gave a sad smile. He slurped his duck soup, finishing off the broth. "What took me a lifetime to study comes as natural as breathing to them. They're intuitively rational and that's what makes them so formidable."

"Really?" Zuko asked in wonder. He tried to imagine someone actually trying to act out his training regimen in the morning every day in and day out and Zuko shuddered. It felt so unnatural to always be on your toes and taking notice of everything. "Is there any evidence?"

"Evidence? What? You don't believe me?"

"First rule of rationalism," Zuko smiled, "Evidence before authority."

"Well," Iroh grinned, "have you ever read  _The Tales of the Avatar_?"

"Isn't that book banned?" Zuko asked.

"Right, of course it is," Iroh said stroking his beard. "So when you read it how did the stories end?"

"Well," Zuko said trying to remember the anthology series, "Each tale would end with the Avatar winning."

"Yes but how did they win?"

"Oh," Zuko said realizing Iroh's point. "They usually outsmarted their enemies."

"Exactly. In each of the twelve stories the Avatar would always win using their wit. The stories always portrayed them as the trickster hero. And trust me when I say you should always be wary of the trickster."

"But those stories were written for children," Zuko countered. "You can hardly consider them evidence. They even have the word  _Tales_  in the title."

"That is true," Iroh said. "But it's a good starting point. There are memoirs that corroborate the tales."

"But that still—" Zuko said before he noticed a soldier rushing toward him.

"Sorry to interrupt Prince Zuko," the soldier said. "The helmsmen and navigator have confirmed that we have reached the source of the light we saw."

"Good," Zuko said looking toward the horizon and indeed in the distance he saw a large iceberg floating by itself. "It will be night soon tell the helmsman to get use there as quickly as possible Also make sure to send the two my regards."

"Yes sir," the soldier said saluting before leaving.

"Uncle I have to get the soldiers ready," Zuko said. "It's very unlikely but the Avatar could still be on that iceberg."

"Do as you must. I'll come along," Iroh said.

"Thank you," Zuko said before leaving.

The ship sailed its way toward the iceberg for another ten minutes before stopping directly before the massive floe. Zuko, Iroh, and six other firebenders made their way down the long stage stairs but, from their height, could already tell no one was there.

After five minutes of inspection of the glacier Zuko found his clue. "There are footprints here," Zuko said. "Three sets of them."

"Footprints?" Iroh asked. "That can't be possible. The ice should be too hard to leave anything like that."

"And yet here they are," Zuko smirked. "I'm guessing the snowfall last night covered the iceberg and then were fresh enough to leave footprints in."

"But the snow would have already hardened, especially through the night," Iroh said staring at the boy. He had already figured it out and was just wondering if Zuko could as well.

"Hmm," Zuko said trying to think.  _What other information could I be missing?_  he thought. A minute passed in silence and just as Iroh was about to offer a suggestion Zuko figured it out. "The light beam. Considering how bright it was the heat here must have been intense," Zuko said snapping his fingers. "Intense enough to melt the snow so that they could leave footprints."

"Makes sense," Iroh smiled. "So what's the story here?"

"Maybe two people found the Avatar here," Zuko said. "They came, took him, and left."

"How did they find him?"

"They were probably nearby, attracted by the light."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Iroh remarked. "We must never assume too much. Not without evidence anyway."

"But the evidence is right here. What did I even assume?"

"You assumed why they were here," Iroh said. "They could have been fishing."

"Fishing?" Zuko asked. " There are barely any fish here. This place is too icy and the current is moving way too fast to fish anyway. You would have to be an idiot to fish here."

"True," Iroh said. "But you mustn't make too many assumptions. You never know when there's a clue ready to throw your entire theory out."

"Prince Zuko," Lieutenant Jee said running towards the two. "We found something… strange."

"Strange?" Zuko asked as they both followed Jee toward a group of soldiers. The men were all staring in shock and awe at what seemed to be impossible. "Make way for the prince," Jee said as he separated the group.

"What in the world?" Zuko said as he stared at least half a dozen footprints, each twice the size of a human head. "Uncle have you ever seen this before?"

"No," Iroh said equally in awe. "Though to be fair I haven't really spent much time in the South Pole."

"I have sir," Wu Li interjected. "I've been stationed here at the South Pole for five years but have never seen any animal leaving those footprints."

"It might belong to the Avatar," Zuko said. "These footprints lead to the edge of the iceberg. So the animal is most likely amphibious."

"Considering the size of the footprints," Iroh said as he walked close to examine the ice, "and the distance between them it has to be a massive animal. Perhaps one large enough to ride on…"

"Whatever it was, boat or beast, they had to go somewhere. Did anyone here bring a map?" Zuko asked and immediately one of the soldiers handed him the map for the local area. "We seem to be here," he said to himself. "There are only three villages nearby that one could get to with the beast or primitive boats they have. He must be hiding in one of them."

"Really now?" Iroh asked taking the map. He saw that Zuko was indeed correct considering the nearest village besides those three was a half a day with their steamship. "He's isolated to those villages there. If we hurry now we can capture him."

"You heard him!" Zuko yelled. "Everyone back to the ship. Tell the helmsman and the navigator to set course for the first village down the route."

"Yes sir!" The soldiers exclaimed running back to the ship as Zuko and Iroh followed closely behind.

"Uncle?"

"Yes?" Iroh said.

"I know why I want to capture the Avatar but why do you?"

"What do you mean?" Iroh furrowed his brows.

"Well you have been discouraging me from capturing him. Telling me about how he's really dangerous. What's your stake in all this?"

"My responsibility is to protect you. If I didn't let you chase the Avatar I know you would somehow run away and chase him all on your own."

"I wouldn't just—" Zuko started before Iroh put up his hand.

"We both know your determination. You wouldn't be able to resist if there were a credible lead," Iroh smiled. "Besides it's been a hundred years since anyone has seen an airbender much less the Avatar. Don't you want to see the man who could single-handedly turn the tide of war against the Fire Nation?"

"Yes," Zuko said grimly, "I too would like to meet such a man."


	4. New World New Rules

A/N: One more chapter and we'll leave the South Pole. Sorry for the delay but I had to map out a lot of things in the story

because of what's happening in this chapter. The next chapter should be in March as I already have the outline ready. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

* * *

Katara had already started running before Aang registered what she had said.

"Wait!" Aang called out as he ran after her, but she didn't even bother giving a response. There was nothing that would stop her from heading toward the village. Not even the Avatar.

Five minutes into their run and the heavy gusts had returned, buffeting the two benders. While the winds greatly affected Aang, slowing him down significantly, Katara showed no signs of exhaustion from her breakneck speed.  _She's probably used to the winds here,_  he thought as he watched her outrun him by a hundred meters or so.

 _Why can't I run that fast?_  He could feel the exhaustion in his legs start to set in, the lactic acid building up. Aang recalled memories of young monks breezing through the wind without any effort. They covered a large swath of distance in a blink of an eye.

 _What were they doing that we're not?_  Salviati asked.

 _Bending?_  Simplicio suggested.

 _Oh wait,_  Aang realized.  _I'm being an idiot._  He wasn't bending. Instead, he was instinctively running like a normal person would. Aang tried to draw out the same energy he had felt in the morning but couldn't seem to find it.  _Maybe I'm too exhausted to concentrate._  He stopped and started to catch his breath.  _I'm too tense,_  he thought, ignoring the present situation for now. He closed his eyes and searched for the energy following whatever muscle memories his body had stored.  _There it is!_

Sitting somewhere near the center of his gravity was a well of energy. He could feel the energy distribute itself evenly throughout his body, pulsating at the same tempo as his heart,  _Now I just need to push some of it downwards._  And as simply as raising a finger, a small portion of his energy cut itself off from the rest and sunk to his legs.

 _Yes, this felt right._  Aang readied himself into a running position and took off as soon as the portioned energy had finished distributing itself. At first, he felt no difference, he was just running as usual. But this time the pain that was already there was being alleviated. He could tell by the rush of the wind against him that he was indeed running faster and gaining speed. He saw Katara out at least five hundred meters ahead of him, running desperately as she could.

 _Now if this damn wind didn't keep getting in the way, I could probably run faster_ , he thought and in response some of the energy moved towards his arms. Aang didn't fight it, instead allowing his muscle memory to pilot his body. Whatever he was doing seemed to be ingrained into him as a child. Suddenly the buffeting of the wind lessened as his speed quickly doubled. His arms were pushing, no,  _bending_ , the air around him leaving little resistance in the front.

 _This is amazing!_  Aang thought as he lost himself in the experience of running. It was like swimming, he realized, in a sea of air. His arms and legs pushed the air around him while the energy inside of him provided the thrust. If Aang had turned around he would have been awed by the trail of snow his airbending was pushing off the ground. At his peak, he was pushing snow two meters into the air.

 _Wait! Was that Katara?_  Aang thought noticing a blue blur in the background. He tried to turn his neck around, but his body resisted, which was probably for the best. The last thing he needed was a broken neck in the middle of the Antarctic. He looked toward the horizon and saw the village was quickly coming up now. Aang slowed his descent as he cut off the energy supply to his arms and legs.

Once more, the wind had returned, its howls piercing through his ears and he could feel the resistance of the snow restricting his movements. Aang turned around to see Katara rapidly closing the distance between them, her determination unfazed by Aang's speed.

"That was incredible," Katara said after she had caught up with him but was too exhausted to give anymore commendations.

"Are you alright? Do you need water?"

"Not right now." She wiped her face of the sweat that had accumulated. She was tempted to take off her coat, but there was no time to cool down.

The two silently made their way towards the village, making sure to observe their surroundings for any possible firebender. An hour ago she could still hear the sounds of the village from where she was now. The women talking, the children playing, all sounds distinct and discernible. But now there was only silence. A creeping dread started to fill Katara, sending shivers down her spine.  _The firebenders just arrived. They didn't have enough time to hurt anybody yet_ , she thought, trying to encourage herself. But it was futile. Katara knew from experience how quickly a firebender's attacks could prove lethal. She pictured Kiko finding herself an orphan, or worse, a mother losing her child. Katara quickened her pace, not caring if she were caught. Aang simply followed suit, hoping beyond hope that his cynicism proved him wrong and that everyone was safe. It was then, just out of the corner of his eye, he noticed shadows moving.

"Stop right there!" a shout came. Three soldiers clad in black and red uniforms jumped out and surrounded the two. One soldier wore a skull mask and red armor while the other had his face revealed but bore a spear aimed at Katara. The third one, however, wore a black uniform with borders of red. "Surrender immediately," Lieutenant Jee, the third man, spoke.

"Is that him sir?" Wu Li asked. "Is that the Avatar?"

"Shut up and concentrate!" Jee ordered.

"Aang run away!" Katara said, getting into a fighting stance.

"I'm not leaving you," Aang replied assuming the same stance as Katara. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"No you don't understand. You have to ru-" Katara was interrupted by a flame that nearly hit her.

"Surrender now," Jee said after he sent his warning shot, "Or you can surrender after we burn you."

Before Aang could respond, Katara ducked under the arm of the masked firebender and froze his legs. "Aang run right now!" She pushed her victim forward causing him to fall onto his knees.

"What! A waterbender?" the firebender said in shock as Katara quickly froze the masked man's hands so he couldn't move. However, that five second delay allowed Jee to get the upper hand on her as he threw another set of flames, which Katara again ducked from.

 _Bollocks! Got to help her,_  he thought. He looked at the spearman in front of him and quickly pushed the energy in his body towards his legs.

"Stay where you are," Wu Li, the spearman shouted, but Aang had already jumped twenty feet above him. "What the…" he said as he saw the boy soar.

 _You do realize we have no plan_ Salviati said.  _They have flamethrowers in their hands and all we can do is jump._

 _Yes, but we can jump really well and gravity here is our friend,_ Simplicio replied and Aang extended his leg towards Wu Li's head as he started to make his descent. He saw Aang's leg and immediately knew what he was going to do, but it was too late. The airbender moved too quickly and struck the spearman directly in the chest knocking him to the ground. Before Aang could turn around to help Katara he heard a scream and shout.

"Enough!" Jee said as he held a knife to Katara's throat. "If you don't give up, I'll slit her throat faster than you can imagine."

Aang immediately froze upon hearing the threat. Behind him the masked man got up after melting the ice around his hands and feet. Even Wu Li was already recovering from Aang's strike. "Stop," Aang said as he slowly moved his hands to his sides. "I'll surrender if you don't hurt her."

"No! Aang, don't worry about me, you have to run!" Katara said. There was definite fear in her eyes, but also growing anger and defiance. She tried squirming out of his hand but found his grip to be too tight.

"It's alright," Aang smiled. "We'll get through this."

"But—"

"Shut up girl or I'll carry out my promise," Jee said as he tightened his grip. "Daichi, tie him up quickly. Wu Li, if he so much as even moves, I want you to spear his legs. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" Wu Li said as he got in position.

Five minutes later and both Aang and Katara had their hands tied. Jee was in front while Daichi, the masked firebender, in the middle, and Wu Li in the back.

"Be on your guard men," Jee said. "We can't afford the Avatar escaping."

* * *

"Where is the Avatar?" Zuko shouted at the villagers. "Where are you hiding him?" Half an hour of searching had proven fruitless. As soon as the ironclad cruiser arrived, Zuko and his soldiers stormed the village and gathered its residents together. They searched the tents, igloos, and even the immediate areas surrounding the village, but there was no sign of the old man.

"Where is he?" he yelled as four skull-masked firebenders stood beside the prince. But out of fear, anger, or ignorance no one responded. Zuko swiftly moved his hand above the crowd spitting flames as far as he could. The children screamed while the women quickly dodged.

"There were two other villages south of here. We visited each one and burned through them looking for the Avatar. Their tents, their clothes, their food, we burned through them all," he said, putting as much malice as possible into each of his words. "Now I know the Avatar is here. There's no other place for him to go in this barren desert you call home. Give him up now and we'll leave immediately. Any resistance," Zuko grew a small but intimidating fireball in his hands, "and we'll burn right through it."

Zuko waited for the villagers to start confessing, even if they were lying. At least that way he'd be able to interrogate the confessor and find out more about the village. Any information now was good information. But no one spoke. He studied each person and saw the usual fear and resentment, but no sign of surrender. There was one woman in particular, perhaps the elder of the village, who showed no signs of fear.

"I don't have time for your games," Zuko yelled, grabbing Gran Gran by the wrist and pulling her towards him.

"No!' Sokka yelled as he began to charge the prince but was immediately bounced back by the soldiers.

"Sokka stay where you are! Don't do anything rash. All of you, please stay calm, we will get through this," Gran Gran said in a stern but motherly tone that the villagers often found comforting.

Zuko knew he had made the right choice. If he could show that even she could be afraid, then the resistance among the villagers might crumble. He concentrated the fire in his hand into a small jet-like blade two inches long. "If I don't see the Avatar before me, I will personally burn everything and everyone in the village," he said, bringing the blade closer to his hostage's neck. "Starting with her." He had expected her to flinch, even struggle a little bit, but she remained eerily still as if she had no care in the world.

With each passing second, the tension increased, growing rapidly between the three groups. Zuko was intent on glaring at the women and children, the firebenders assumed their statuesque position, not moving until their prince gave an order, and the villagers did their best to look down and not attract attention. Just as the tension was about to reach its climax, everyone heard footsteps in the distance. There wasn't just one pair of footsteps, but multiple, each pair crunching the snow and disturbing the uneasy silence that was there before.

"Who's there? Zuko shouted. The sound seemed to be coming from behind the wall that surrounded the village.

"Sir," Lieutenant Jee said. Accompanying were two soldiers, a young boy, and a girl. "We think we found him! We found the Avatar."

 _Damn it! How did they get captured?_  Gran Gran sighed.

"Katara?" Sokka said looking at his captured sister. "Let go of my sister, you bastards!"

"Sokka!" Katara cried trying to wriggle free from her captor's hands, but to no avail.

"What?" Zuko asked, too excited to bother with the outbursts between the siblings. He released his hold on Gran Gran as one of the firebenders took hold of her arm. "Where is he?" He looked at the group and saw only one other captor, a small boy.

"This boy here was airbending," Jee said, pointing to Aang. "We watched him clear half a kilometer in less than twenty seconds"

"Him?" Zuko said, hiding his awe under the veil of indifference. Looking at him from head to toe, he was indeed almost an exact model of the airbenders his uncle had paintings from. He even had the blue arrow tattoos on his arms and head. "He's an airbender alright, but doesn't he seem a little too young Jee?"

"Sir, isn't the Avatar an airbender?" Jee asked.

"Does he look a hundred to you?"

"No, but—"

"Then how could he be the Avatar?" Zuko interrupted, before turning to Aang. "Are you the Avatar?"

"No. I'm not the Avatar," Aang quickly replied. In his experience, it was better not to antagonize bullies, especially if they were teenagers. A quick response, a display of obedience, should be enough to keep the bully at bay.  _What insane military structure puts a teenager in charge?_

"But you are an airbender?" Zuko asked, brushing aside Aang's response. If he had said either yes or no, it would have been met with the same amount of skepticism.

"Yes."

If he were an airbender, Zuko figured, then there was a significant chance he was the Avatar.  _Does the Avatar have eternal youth?_  Zuko thought. But he quickly dismissed the notion. If they had eternal youth, then they wouldn't ever get older. At the very least he could interrogate the boy to find other airbenders, who could lead him to the Avatar. "Bring him along, we'll sort this out later. What's with the girl?"

"She's a waterbender," Jee said.

"A waterbender? I thought there weren't any waterbenders left in the tribe."

"That's because you took them all," Katara said in all the anger and disgust she could muster.

"Bring her along as well," Zuko said, ignoring her altogether.

The group of soldiers, Gran Gran, Zuko, Aang, and Katara were about to head for the stage stairs when they heard a shout from up above.

"What's with all the commotion?" Uncle Iroh yawned from the top of the stage stairs. He had tried to keep up with his nephew's enthusiasm yesterday but found himself tired out after twenty hours. And just as he had fallen asleep, he could hear Zuko's yelling, and more disturbingly, the screams of the villagers.

 _It hasn't even been an hour and my nephew has already got himself hostages,_  Iroh sighed. The boy still had a long way to go when it came to diplomacy. He walked down the staircase inspecting each of the hostages until he noticed a familiar face.

"You?" Iroh exclaimed, his face paling when he saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Gran Gran asked, raising an eyebrow.  _And that's my cue…_

"You two know each other?" Zuko asked.

"Zuko get away from her now!"

"What?"

"Bonsai tree!"

 _What?_ Zuko thought before he translated the code word for extreme danger. He jumped back, but it was too late as Gran Gran twisted around and a palm flashed forward to hit him square in the chest. A burst of energy erupted from the impact as Zuko flew back five feet into a pile of snow.

Gran Gran immediately ducked as flames erupted overhead as the other firebenders got ready to attack. She swept her leg under Wu Li who immediately fell to the ground and took his spear before the others could react. Five seconds into the battle Gran Gran had armed herself with a spear and with one foot, pinned Wu Li to the ground.

"Anyone else care to try?" Gran Gran taunted as the other firebenders started to approach her.

"Enough!" Iroh yelled leaping down the stairs and into the middle of the fight between the firebenders and Gran Gran. "No more fighting, all of you!"

"But General Iroh—" Jee said.

"Did I stutter?" Iroh said in a rare fury that no one had ever seen him in. "Help Zuko get to safety. The rest of you are to stay here and guard the boy and girl. If I hear any of you even so much as look at the villagers in the wrong way, I'll throw you overboard myself. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" the soldiers yelled at once

"Are you willing to talk?" Iroh asked Gran Gran who simply nodded.

"We can talk over there," Gran Gran said pointing to a spot behind the ice wall. "But not before he releases my granddaughter."

Iroh turned around to see Katara being held by one of the soldiers. "You heard her. Release the girl."

"Understood," a soldier said before releasing Katara from her binds.

"You are all to remain here until I come back," Iroh said. He then turned towards Gran Gran. "Let's go." The two immediately began to walk towards the wall.

"What just happened?" Katara asked, to which no one had a response.

* * *

"White or red?" Gran Gran asked as soon as they were out of view behind the ice wall.

"What?" Iroh asked.

Gran Gran parted her coat to reveal a small wooden and metallic object aimed at Iroh. "Are you with the White Lotus or Red?"

"Is that…" Iroh said, his face paling even more than before as soon as he recognized the weapon, "Is that a gun? They gave you a gun?"

"Yes, so good of you to notice," Gran Gran commented. "If you want, I can demonstrate its use. Now answer the damn question."

"Kanna, it's me," Iroh pleaded.

"The Iroh I knew would've never attacked an innocent village much less three. So I'll ask again: Are you still with the White Lotus or did you finally join your brother?"

"Look," Iroh took out his Pai Sho piece and threw it toward Kanna. "Does that answer your question?"

Kanna studied the markings on the somewhat newly minted coin. There were some signs of weathering, but it was indeed authentic as it matched her older coin exactly. "They finally made you Master First Class?" she asked skeptically.

"Two years ago. Apparently, promotion is only through seniority," Iroh laughed but Kanna betrayed no hint of emotion.

"You could have stolen the coin," she said throwing the token back at him. "What's the passphrase for this week?"

"Wait, you get a copy of the paper?"

"What's the passphrase?" Kanna said raising her gun.

 _Seems she still takes things over the top._ "Red skies at night," Iroh said as he remembered how he spent an hour decrypting the code from the most recent edition of  _Rising Dawn_. With the advent of the telegraph and backing of the state, in five years since its first publication,  _Rising Dawn_  outpaced its competitors to become the Fire Nation's most popular newspaper. Everyday hundreds of thousands of copies of the newspaper were printed out and distributed throughout the various cities in the nation. For the first time, people would receive information within minutes or hours instead of days or even weeks.

It had become so popular in fact that messenger birds would deliver copies to distribution centers in the colonies and even personally to the South Pole Fire Nation post. This mass form of communication, of course, wouldn't go unnoticed and as such every week the White Lotus would place adverts in the newspaper with encrypted instructions and passphrases.

Kanna took a minute to inspect the general before putting her percussion cap pistol away. "My messenger bird fetches a copy from Lotus South every week."

"But I thought you retired?"

"Of course I did," Kanna said. "Doesn't mean I can't keep up with the news. But enough about me. Do you want to explain why your ship's literally in the middle of my village?"

"That would be my overzealous nephew," Iroh sighed. "I'm willing to pay for the damages."

"What am I supposed to do with your money? You're lucky our tents weren't ruined," Kanna retorted before the former statement registered. "Wait, that's Ozai's son?"

"Yes," Iroh gave a small smile. "He's a little rough around the edges, but he means well."

"He means well? He held me hostage, terrorized the villagers, and threatened to burn everything! You're lucky I only stopped the chi flow in the boy."

"Yes, and I thank you for your restraint," Iroh said. "But if it's any consolation he wasn't going to burn anything down. He might have done a thorough investigation, but he wouldn't have harmed anyone."

"I thought I taught you to never make empty threats," Kanna furrowed her brows. "The enemy might take them seriously."

"So you did. It seems I haven't taught him that lesson yet."

"I suppose then the other two villages you visited are fine?"

"You suppose correctly," Iroh said. "I have a question of my own: are you insane?"

"What?" Kanna asked.

"You heard me," Iroh said. "Are you insane? You're supposed to use the pistol as a last resort. If you had revealed it to my troops… I can't even begin to imagine the consequences."

"Pretty sure a Fire Nation cruiser splitting my village in half is a good time for a last resort."

"Perhaps," Iroh said, "But you can only fire one bullet before you have to reload and we both know you would have been fine without one."

"I would have been until I saw you," Kanna smirked.

At that Iroh looked at her in surprise. Never before had she admitted she needed any kind of assistance or advantage. She had always worn an armor of invulnerability, never letting any weakness show.  _It seems time indeed does change everything_  Iroh though. "I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered," Iroh laughed.

"Why not both?" Kanna said revealing a small smile.

Iroh too smiled as he realized his friend and mentor still had her snark. "Is he truly the Avatar?"

"You have to ask? You saw the markings on him."

"But then how is he so young? Of all the powers the Avatar ever had, I've never heard of eternal youth being one of them."

"Are you sure? Kyoshi lived for two hundred years after all."

"Yes, but she still aged, albeit very gracefully," Iroh commented as he summoned a little fireball in his hand. "I hope you'll forgive me, but it really is frigid. I have no idea how you can put up with the cold," Iroh laughed.

"Like everything, you get used to it over time," Kanna shrugged. "If what my granddaughter said is correct, then he put himself in suspended animation."

"Suspended animation?"

"My grandchildren found him stuck in an iceberg in the Avatar state. When they released him—"

"So that's what that light was!" Iroh said before the next line of thought entered to the forefront of his mind. "He was in there for a hundred years?"

"And to think," Kanna said, taking her turn to laugh, "your family scoured the world for him for so long."

"Seems like a fit punishment for our hubris," Iroh said not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "What's his name?"

"Aang," Kanna said as she tried to remember events earlier in the morning, which now seemed an eternity ago. "He's strange but polite. Apparently, he doesn't know he's the Avatar yet."

"Makes sense," Iroh nodded, "Usually Avatars are told who they are at sixteen. And I'd be worried if he weren't strange."

"Don't underestimate him," she warned. "He might seem shy but he often probes for information, even when he isn't asking questions."

"Interesting," Iroh said as he increased the size of the flame. The temperature was dropping rapidly as the sun had started to make its descent. "What do we do now?"

"Keep him here until the White Lotus can come for him. That was the original plan at least until you barged in."

"I can escort him to central."

"Escort him? As your prisoner?"

"No, as my guest," Iroh countered.

"And you think he'd want to be your guest after all your nephew has done?" Kanna looked at him incredulously. "You'd be lucky if you escaped with your life."

"What else can we do? If we keep him here and news escapes, Ozai will send a fleet."

"Then the news won't escape," Kanna grimaced as she started to plan how to keep the return of the Avatar a secret.

"Damn," Iroh said as a thought popped into his head. "It might already be too late."

"What are you talking about?"

"As you said, he was in the Avatar state when he was released from the ice. And whenever the Avatar is in that state, the temples of each nation—"

"Harmonize with him," Kanna said completing the sentence in horror. How she forgot that fact Kanna would never understand.

Eighty years ago the Fire Nation had invaded the Southern Water Tribe and captured all their waterbenders. If the Fire Nation were to invade again it would be a slaughter. "You're right. We have to assume everyone already knows. You need to get him to headquarters as fast as possible. Maybe spread some news that he isn't in the Southern Water Tribe anymore."

"Wow," Iroh grinned.

"What?"

"It's nice you finally admit I'm right about something."

Kanna scowled. "It's time you leave, Iroh. As much as I'd love to catch up, we can't afford the reds capturing Aang."

"Agreed. It's a two day trip from here to the next safe point, but if we hurry, we can make it there in one."

"One more thing, Iroh," Kanna said as they headed back to the villagers and soldiers. "If I find out you lied to me, I will come for you."

Iroh didn't say anything as he was already used to his friend's ruthlessness and paranoia. If anything, that's how she survived for so long.


	5. Interrogation & Escape

Akane was not in a good mood today. For one thing, instead of the warm meal he was promised he got some cold slop. Something about the chef catching a cold and being too tired to cook.  _He's too tired? I haven't had any sleep for the past two days,_ Akane thought as he paced his quarters back and forth. But no, that wasn't what was really bothering him. Today he was going to die.

He wasn't afraid of death. He had been taught to accept the inevitable. But it was damn inconvenient. Three years ago Akane was singing praises to whatever god there might be for giving him the easiest mission. Everyone in his graduating class envied his good fortune. Sailing the world with the banished Crown Prince and the great General Iroh on a wild goose chase was too good to be true. For three years he had enjoyed the relative simplicity of life as a soldier at sea. Get up in the morning, complete the assigned chores for the day, follow the brat prince's orders, and then end the day in the company of friends. That and traveling the world made the assignment feel like a vacation.

That was until the Avatar decided to reveal himself. At first, he had hoped that the Avatar would escape. After all, with a hundred years worth of experience evading the Fire Nation, running away from a sixteen year old on a single cruiser shouldn't be too hard. But then the Avatar was captured and now Akane had no other choice.

The assassin stopped and looked to his bed or, more specifically, the box on his bed. In this small wooden box was a collection of all his "personal items". Things like his wife's hairbrush or his daughter's bracelet that he would use as a cover story. Underneath those items was a false bottom which he quickly removed. He inhaled sharply when he saw the machine of death.

It was beautiful in its simplicity and elegant in its design. Akane had practiced with the weapon throughout his childhood but this was the first time he would use it in an actual mission. His hand trembled as he felt the black revolver and loaded the bullets into the chamber.  _This isn't a dream; this is actually happening_ he reminded himself. Akane tucked the gun underneath his uniform and took a deep breath. Today he was going to make history.

* * *

"Katara you're insane," Sokka said.

"Look you can come with me or stay behind, but I'm going," Katara replied getting into a canoe, similar to the one they destroyed yesterday.

"What are you going to do? Go after him in a canoe?"

"No, don't be an idiot," Katara replied crossing her arms. "I'm going to Kino. They should have a ship there that can catch up to the cruiser quickly."

"It'll take you at least two hours to get to that village. The firebenders would be long gone by then," Sokka said, not mentioning that the firebenders already had an hour head start.

"It's better than doing nothing."

"Look Gran Gran—"

"I don't care what she said!" Katara yelled. "She gave up Aang, the world's last hope, to the firebenders. We can't afford to lose him."

"But she said that old man was her friend."

"Sokka," Katara glared at him, "that old man's Fire Nation. Do you think anyone can be friends with a firebender? She probably gave him up just to protect us."

"That seems like a good reason," Sokka added.

"No it isn't. We should have fought them and gotten Aang to safety. He could've easily run away."

"And we would've been slaughtered."

"And the world might have had hope," Katara added. "Look I'm going to Kino. Are you coming or not?"

"Can't we just ask Gran Gran to send a bird there? Tell them Aang's been kidnapped?" Sokka asked.

"No time. Apparently, the flock got scared off when the firebenders invaded. Gran Gran's still wasting time trying to get them," Katara said adding extra venom in the last sentence. "Besides do you really think they're going to send their best ship because of a piece of paper says the Avatar's been captured?"

"Ok look, I'll go with you to Kino. But I'm not sure we'll convince them even in person," Sokka sighed as Katara gave a small smirk. "What's with the camping bags?" He pointed to two small camping bags that he only saw once he got in the canoe.

"There's a bag for each of us. It should be enough to last us a month."

"Month?"

"We can't just rescue Aang and bring him back to the South Pole. They'll come after us. Instead we'll find him a place he can stay until they're not looking for him anymore."

"And you think the sailors of Kino will let a woman on their ship?"

"I'd like to see them stop me."

Sokka took one deep breath and sighed. Once his sister had made up her mind on something, she'd never let go of it. "Fine, but do you actually think we'll get to Kano on time in this canoe?"

"No, not really," Katara sighed. "But we got to tr—" A sudden realization hit her square in the face. She was such an idiot. The answer was right there the entire time. "I got it!" The waterbender jumped off the canoe and immediately started running towards a hill on the outskirts of the village.

"What did you get?" Sokka yelled, running behind her. He was slightly annoyed that he now had to carry two camping bags.

"We forgot about Appa!" Katara laughed. "Why sail when we can fly?

* * *

It was quite the spacious but empty room. Four oil lamps, one at each corner of the room, dyed the room a warm red. In fact almost everything in the room was red. The metal walls were a dull crimson, the seating mats were maroon, and even the table was a certain variation of red, though Aang couldn't quite place the color.  _Perhaps mahogany,_  he guessed.

It seemed to be some sort of a meeting room judging by the seating mats. There were twenty in total including the one in the center front. At most, Aang concluded, there were thirty souls on board the vessel..

The most striking feature in the room was of course the large red banner with a black flame at its center.  _Of course the flame is their symbol_  Aang sighed. Obviously, the people of the Fire Nation took great pride in their ability to firebend, enough so, to place it as the centerpiece of their flag. It made sense though. If there were a nation of super powered beings that all had the same superpower then it would follow that power would become their symbol. The problem, however, was how easily such an ethnostate could fall into the trap of nationalism.

He was about to move on but a glimmer of gold at the bottom of the banner caught his eye. There were eleven unfamiliar characters, similar to Chinese, written across the width of the cloth. And even though he had never seen them before he understood what it said.  _We are One. We are Fire._

 _Looks like the translation machine translates text as well_. It was kind of scary if you thought about it. There was an omnipresent machine or entity that filtered how you perceived, heard, and understood the world. Solipsism be damned, now he couldn't even trust his brain. Any vulnerability in the machine was a vulnerability in his mind. If a malicious actor gained access to the machine the results would be horrifying. Even worse, and much more probable, the machine could malfunction or shut down. Would civilization then simply grind to a halt?

 _Focus! We've been captured by the enemy. We can leave the hypothesizing for later. What do we do right now?_  Simplicio said.

 _There's not much we can do right now besides gather intelligence_ Salviati replied.  _We're handcuffed in a steamship surrounded by guards in the middle of the Antarctic sea. Escape isn't really feasible here._

_We can escape this room given enough time and if we're close enough to an iceberg or a cliffside we can jump to the edge and make our way back to the village._

_So we're going to lead them to the village?_ Salviati asked.  _Even with the multiple variables that we're assuming will go our way, they'll just hold the village hostage once again._

_Not if we get there first, get on Appa, and make sure they see us escaping. There would be no point in holding the village hostage if they can't relay that information._

_You're just adding more variables! And you know the madness of men in war. Don't think for a minute they just won't take revenge anyway._

_Well we can't leave Appa behind_  Simplicio stated adamantly.  _Besides escape will be much harder once we reach wherever we're going. If the Avatar is really as important as Katara says he is, then they'll have an army waiting for us._

 _Fine, escape it is,_  Salviati relented.  _But we're going to need a better plan. And that better plan will only come from gathering intelligence._

 _We know nothing about the Avatar_  Simplicio said, his turn to be pessimistic.

_Yes but neither do they. It's been a hundred years after all. What could they prove before the actual Avatar?_

_The Fire Nation seems to be prominently Japanese, or, at the very least, East Asian,_ Simplicio observed _. Do we know any East Asian myths or legends?_

_What?_

_If we're going to fake being the Avatar, then we might as well play on myths that might seem familiar to them._

_Why do you keep assuming—_ Simplicio said before he was interrupted by a metallic sound.

The door to the room creaked open and in stepped the young teenager. He quickly closed the door but not before Aang saw there were at least three guards outside. Without a single word or pause Zuko sat on the opposite side of the table, taking out a small notebook and pencil. Immediately Zuko started writing notes, only looking up to study the airbender, making sure to note every detail.

Minutes passed as Zuko continued his pattern of glowering at the airbender and then quickly scribbling down notes, all without speaking a single word. Aang would have found it amusing if he weren't shackled on board a ship with no escape. As soon as the sixth minute passed, Aang realized this was a domination game. It was a trick interviewers and detectives would use where they would sit in complete silence waiting for their interviewee or suspect to grow uncomfortable enough to start talking and reveal secrets. It was a surprisingly effective strategy as most people weren't prepared for extensive periods of silence.

 _If I don't surrender would he read me as stubborn?_  Would it be better to pretend to lose so the youth would consider him weak and easily susceptible to commands and instructions? It would be easier to escape if he wasn't suspected of being able to do so. But would the boy expect this avenue of deception? What level was his opponent playing on? Questions started to fill Aang's mind as he tried to pick the best strategy to win.

A few more minutes passed before the silence was interrupted by metal creaking. The two turned to the door and saw the general step through. Iroh walked in carrying a tea set and three teacups on a tray. "Sorry for the delay but the water for the tea was taking a while to heat." Iroh said as the guards locked the door behind him.

 _So he's good cop?_  Aang thought as the general poured tea for each of them.

"My name is Iroh, what's yours?" Iroh said after taking a sip from his teacup.

 _So he wasn't in on the game? Or maybe they realized the game was futile and this is a move to save face. Perhaps I should comply. They might treat me better in the future._  "Greetings General Iroh. I am Aang, son of Air, friend to all, and enemy of none," the airbender said, drawing inspiration for his gravitas from C.S. Lewis. He made sure to bow his head a little and the general, in return, bowed as well. Aang turned his attention toward the teenager. "And who are you, son of Fire?"

 _Son of Fire? Was that how people talked a hundred years ago?_  Zuko looked to his uncle for direction but Iroh didn't notice. Instead he also seemed a little puzzled by the airbender's sudden exclamations. "I'm Sergeant Zuko."

"Sergeant? But you're so young," Aang said in shock. The firebender before him could have been no more than eighteen. Either the Fire Nation employed child soldiers, or his position was a result of shameless nepotism.

"Why did you lie before about who you were?" Zuko asked, completely ignoring the airbender's outburst.

Aang nodded, regaining his composure. "Would you tell an invading force who you were if they attacked three villages looking for you?"

"That's true," Iroh laughed taking another sip from the cup. "Aang have some tea. I promise you it's quite sweet."

"Thank you," Aang said politely. Even though they were all drinking the same tea, it wasn't proof it wasn't poisoned. The firebenders could have already taken the antidote or perhaps it was the teacup itself that was poisoned. Then again, they could have just killed him as soon as he was brought onto the ship.

"How is it?"

"It's actually quite delicious," Aang replied. He was surprised to find a hint of jasmine in the tea. It was a good feeling to find something so familiar in a world so foreign.

"That's good. I want you to know you're our guest here. If you need anything, please feel free to ask."

"Do you usually shackle all your guests?" the airbender asked motioning to his chained hands.

"No, and it is regretful that we have to do this, but we can't risk you airbending and getting hurt in the process. Think of it as a precaution."

"I've never heard of that perspective before. I'm sure all your prisoners are quite safe then," Aang gave a sardonic laugh. "Might I be so bold to ask when this precaution will come off?"

"When we reach our destination. Only there will you be protected completely."

"General, you should already know that no such place exists. May I ask where exactly this destination is?" While he was curious about who he needed protection from, the destination was far more important. After all, he couldn't exactly get back to Appa if he didn't know where he was.

"You don't need to know," Zuko interjected before his uncle could answer. "I have some questions of my own."

"How about we trade information? For each question I answer you answer a question of mine."

"Don't be ridiculous. This is an interrogation not a—"

"Deal!" Iroh exclaimed.

"Uncle! We can't—" Zuko said before he stopped himself, but it was too late. He could see a hint of a smirk on Aang's face

 _These two are uncle and nephew_  Aang thought. _So it was the nepotism then…_  But why was a general on a naval cruiser? A general usually would have thousands of men under him and yet there were only twenty men here.

"My question first," Zuko growled. "Where have you been for the past century?"

"Century? What do you mean?" Aang asked pretending to be confused. From what little Katara had told him that Avatar had been missing for a hundred years. His age would obviously be an issue.

"Don't answer my question with a question." Zuko leaned across the table. "We've searched the world for a hundred years, but we couldn't find you. Where were you?"

"Has it really been a hundred years?" Aang said giving his best performance. He paused for a few seconds, scrunching his face in confusion, before he spoke his next line. "What year is it?"

"6538."

"6538? And your calendar is based on the sun correct?"

"That's correct," Iroh said, intrigued by his questions.

 _But didn't Sokka say the current year was 3716?_  Aang thought before he realized the two countries probably used different calendars. It wouldn't really make sense for the Water Tribe to use the Fire Nation's calendar.

"Where were you?" Zuko yelled tugging on Aang's shirt.

"Hmm," Aang murmured looking at Zuko's hand. "Son of Fire, while I do admire your courage, do you consider it wise to threaten me?" Aang looked the sergeant in the eye but he found no trace of hesitance. "I'll answer your question, but you must remove your hand."

Zuko, looked at Iroh, who nodded his head in admonishment, before releasing his shirt. Aang tried to smooth out his shirt but frowned at the creases left. "It seems my time spent traveling through the other realms has resulted in a time dilation."

"What?" Zuko and Iroh said simultaneously.  
If there was one lesson Aang had ever learned during his career as a physicist is that you can blind any layman with science. State any conclusion you want and all you had to do was come up with the science to prove it. It was a common con used over and over again throughout history. From the racist scientists who used skull size as an indicator that certain races were more intelligent than others to "moisture accelerators" throwing chemicals into the air hoping it would cause rain, they all used "science" in their lie.

And now, Aang too, would follow suit in the dishonorable tradition. The best lie, in this world, would be one that combined the mysticisms of magic, esoterisms of science, and hints of truth.

"A hundred years passed in this world when I was traveling through the heavens," Aang said. Technically, it wasn't a lie. He lived on Earth and the planet itself moved through space, so he was, in fact, traveling through the heavens. He even lived for a hundred years on Earth…and a hundred years passed here.  _How very convenient_  sang a small voice in his mind.

"What do you mean traveling through the heavens?" Zuko asked.

"There are other worlds out there. An infinite number of them, each as complex and intricate as this world, scattered throughout the cosmos."

"An infinite number of worlds? What are you talking about?" Zuko looked at Aang as if he had grown a second head.

Aang, clearing his throat, took on his role as a lecturer once again. "For every star you see in the sky above there are multiple worlds. And there are more stars in the heavens than there are grains of sand in all the beaches of the world."

Zuko blinked a couple of times staring at Aang as his words reverberated in his mind. He had spent the past hour before the interrogation trying to predict all the strategies the Avatar could use. But he never could have predicted the airbender would boldly lie about the most obvious of facts. There were so many things wrong with his statements that he didn't even know where to begin.

"What?" Zuko finally uttered. "There are only seven worlds and they all circle our sun. How could there be an infinite number of worlds? Are they all hiding?" Do they all circle our sun, never colliding with each other?"

A smile slowly crept on Aang's face.  _This is so precious_  he thought, marveling at Zuko's ignorance. It wasn't often Aang got the chance to explain the basics of the universe to an intelligent adult.  _I wonder how much of his reality I could destroy_. From the questions the firebender asked, it looked like he, and by extension his countrymen, believed in an early form of heliocentrism. The world, the planets, and even the stars revolved around the sun. It made sense considering they had the sun on their flag that they'd easily adopt this model of the universe.

"You do know that every star in the sky is a sun?" Aang asked as Zuko's mouth opened a little in confusion. "And that the sun in also a star?"

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. How could the sun be a star? It's too large to be one. Next thing you'll be telling me is that the sky isn't blue."

"But the sky isn't blue," the Avatar said plainly.

"Wha—"

"The sky's more of a bluish violet," Aang continued ignoring the teenager's hanging jaw. "It's just the human eye can't see the violet because of insufficient evolutionary pressure to do so."

"While we found your theories interesting," Iroh said before his nephew could speak. "You said you visited other worlds. Was the spirit world one of them?"

"Yes," Aang let out a big sigh, quickly improvising. "I thought I was gone for only a year or two. Maybe ten at most but never a hundred. It felt too short to be a hundred years."

"Incredible. What did you do there?" the general asked, focusing all his attention on the boy.

"Explore mostly. Well first I was exploring then I became lost when I couldn't find my way out. Let me tell you," Aang said laughing as he pretended to reminisce. "The spirit world really lives up to its name. There were so many spirits and gods, all very strange. Some were humanoid in shape, but others defied imagination. To this day I still don't have the words to describe them."

"You met gods?"

"Of course! I saw the Monkey King, the Jade Emperor, and the prettiest of all, Amaterasu," Aang said, listing off as many East Asian deities as he could remember. Most likely, his listing of gods and goddesses wouldn't work considering thousands of years had already passed.

"Hmm." Iroh stroked his beard and tilted his head. "I guess we walk in different circles. I've never heard of them, but I would love to meet them."

"You've been to the spirit world?" A chill ran down Aang's spine.  _Because of course he visited the spirit world. God forbid anything ever work out in my favor._  He should have been more careful, should have seen the obvious trap when he mentioned specifically the spirit world. Of course he would have known about it.

"I have traveled there sometimes but I've never met gods before. Have you met Koh? Or how about Kujiro?"

"No. I can't say I have." Aang saw a little frown on the general's face before disappearing.  _He's definitely testing me… Wait is "spirit world" even a thing?_

"What about the Spirit Gate? It's a sight to behold isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know," Aang said quickly making sure to take another sip of tea. The name of the game was confidence and any hesitation could give the game away. "I just popped into middle of a forest when I first woke up."

"Yes the spirit world can be a very strange place," Iroh laughed. Whether it was fake or genuine, Aang couldn't tell.

"Enough," Zuko said, a little annoyed he wasn't in the know when it came to the spirit world. A problem he would rectify as soon as this 'interrogation' was over. "Do you have any proof?"

"Proof of what?"

"Proof of anything you just said. You keep making up all these ridiculous claims. How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"Another question Zuko? I think it's my turn for one."

"Then ask yours."

"When I left this world a hundred years ago it was in relative peace," Aang said, remembering what Katara told him. "So you can imagine my surprise when I found the Fire Nation at war with the world. Why?"

"Why is any war ever waged? Resources, beliefs, nationalism, take your pick," Zuko said. "This war's older than my grandfather. I just serve in it."

"And why has this war lasted a hundred years? Is it the Fire Nation's incompetence or the Earth Kingdom's strength?"

"Elements of both."

"I see." Aang was surprised by the teenager's cynicism. Usually boys this young would have a streak of nationalism. He could sense some weariness from the firebender, as if he had already served too long in this war.

"Any other questions?"

"I'd really like to know where we're going."

"You already know the answer to that," Zuko smirked. "How about this? If you have any proof for what you said we'll answer what we can."

"That's not much of a deal." Aang had hoped that he had forgotten that question. How was he supposed to offer any proof? A minute passed in silence as he combed through his memories for anything that could help. "Give me your pencil and paper."

"What? Why?"

"Do you want proof or not?" Aang asked, reaching out his hand.

Zuko studied him, making sure to note that he hadn't escaped his shackles. He gave the pencil and a page he tore from his journal. "Here."

Aang took the pencil and wrote 'F'.  _Hopefully the machine works both ways._ "Do you recognize this character?"

"No. Not really," Zuko said.

As suspected Aang too couldn't tell some of the characters apart when he read the sentence on the banner. "How about these characters?" Aang wrote 'I', 'R', and 'E' vertically down the page.

"I've never seen any of these scribbles," Zuko said. "Stop fooling around already."

"What about you general? Have you ever seen these characters before?"

"No. I can't say I have," Iroh said distantly. He needed to end this interview as quickly as possible. If he had known the conversation would head in this direction, he wouldn't have brought Zuko along.

"How about now?" Aang asked after writing 'FIRE" horizontally across the page. "Do you recognize this word now?"

"No. I don—" Zuko paused. He blinked several times looking at the page. He had never seen those characters before, but the word was as clear as day. "Does that mean fire?"

"Exactly! You got it," Aang said excitedly. "Behold the language of the gods. Anyone can learn and understand it, even if they have never seen it before."

"But how?" Zuko grabbed the page from Aang. He stared at the word in amazement, making sure to commit it to memory. "How does it work?"

"Who knows?" Aang shrugged. "The work of the gods is above us mere mortals. I just happened to discover, or more likely, rediscover it on my travels."

"Do you have any more words?" Zuko asked, almost dropping his bad cop act. This discovery was too important to ignore just for an interrogation.

"Of course," Aang took the page and wrote the other three elements. Each word increasing the sergeant's curiosity.

'Uncle, what do you think of this?" Zuko asked showing him the paper.

"It's very interesting," Iroh replied, wary of his nephew's excitement. "These words are foreign to me yet seem so familiar."

"Will you tell me now where we're going?"

"Sanctuary," Iroh said. "I'd tell you more, but secrets have a way of getting out when more than one person knows."

"So your nephew doesn't even know?" Aang looked at Zuko who simply scoffed. "Who wishes to harm me?"

"Those who want the war to continue. For the Avatar will bring balance to the world and they certainly can't have that."

"And you want the war to end?"

"This war has gone on for far too long," Iroh sighed. "The world is in desperate need of peace."

"I see," Aang nodded. "For someone who prefers peace to war you certainly didn't show it when you attacked those three villages."

"It is regretful, but we must keep up appearances. No one can know our true intentions."

"You certainly put on a convincing act," Aang laughed. "How do I know this isn't an act as well?"

"You don't. But we can convince you over the coming days." The general got up from his seat as did the young soldier. "As delicious as this tea is you must be famished. Someone will come by to serve lunch soon."

"Why don't you join me?" Aang offered, hoping he could gleam more information from the two.

"Perhaps later in the afternoon but right now we have some urgent business to attend to."

"That's unfortunate but before you leave, I just have one more question." Aang shuffled his body so he could face the two men.

"Of course. What is it?"

"With all the airbenders in the world how did you know I'd be in the South Pole?" Aang asked.

For the first time in their conversation, Iroh hesitated. It wasn't much but it was noticeable. "As Zuko said, we searched the world for you. That you happened to be in the South Pole when we were here was luck I suppose."

"I see. Well then men of Fire I bid you farewell," Aang said giving a bow. "Till we see each other again."

"And you as well," Iroh replied.

* * *

"Do not let anyone enter," Iroh said to the three guards as soon as the door was closed, "under any circumstances."

"Yes sir!" the soldiers shouted.

"Uncle, what about his lunch?" Zuko asked.

"Ah I forgot about that. Thank you Zuko. Itsumo go fetch him lunch. When you give it to him make sure the two of you guard the door. Assume he'll try anything to get out." Iroh turned to his nephew. "Come Zuko, we must talk."

The two made their way down the dark red twisted hallway guided only by the light from the lamps posted every five feet. Zuko would never admit out loud but he hated the color red. In the beginning of his service he was at most indifferent to the color. But the ubiquity of the color started to annoy and soon disgust him. Red walls, red lamps, red uniforms, red banners, red curtains, and so on and on. Would it kill anyone to have some other color scheme besides red and black? The first thing he was going to do when he became Fire Lord was was change the colors to blue and white just to spite tradition.

"Go in," Iroh whispered.

"What?" Zuko snapped to attention. They were standing at the door to his uncle's quarters. "Uncle, what are we doing here?"

"Go in," the general repeated, his face solemn. Zuko obliged, and as soon as he did, Iroh quickly locked the door behind him. Looking around Zuko was surprised how barren the room was. Given his uncle's love of books he had expected the room to be crammed full of ancient texts but there were only about seven books, five of which were on the desk beside the bed. "Show me the page the Avatar wrote on."

"Yeah, here," Zuko said, handing the page over. "Hey! What—"

It was too late. Iron had completely burned the paper without giving it so much a glance. "Zuko, hear me well," Iroh said in a voice of not his fun and jovial uncle but that of the Dragon of the West. "You will not repeat any mention of these characters outside this room. Do not speak it, do not write it, do not even think about it. If you see them anywhere ignore them. Do not demonstrate any knowledge that you know what these are. Do you understand me?"

The prince's eyes widened, and he quickly nodded. "Are they from the Forbidden Archives?" Zuko whispered.

There was no response, only a period of silence filling the room causing the tension to grow. "Your father told you about the room?"

"When I was still his son."

"That fool," Iroh hissed. "What did he tell you?"

"Well he told me it was a fairy tale of sorts. Supposed to teach me the dangers of snooping around." Zuko sat on the bed trying to remember what he could of the story. "There was a room deep within the palace grounds that held all the secrets of the world. Only those who were deemed worthy were allowed to enter. These scholars would go into the room and study the material there but weren't allowed to take any of the secrets from there."

"One day a scholar taught his son a secret but forbade him from telling anyone else. The son, of course, didn't listen and told his friends. His friends told their friends and so on until the entire village knew about it," Zuko said, looking at his uncle to see if he recognized the story, but Iroh showed no sign of acknowledgment. Instead he had chosen to sit in his desk chair and simply stare at him.

"Go on."

"Right. So one day the scholar stayed overnight in the palace. When dawn came and he went back home everyone was gone. All the men, all the women, all the children, all gone, never to be seen again. There weren't even signs of a struggle, like they were never there at all. In the end the scholar went mad with grief and killed himself."

"You've got most of the story correct," Iroh grumbled after a pause. Zuko wasn't sure if it was because of the light but his uncle seemed suddenly older, his tiredness plain to see. "It happened when I was about your age. Maybe three years older than you. The village's name was Bin Su and the only reason I'm telling you is so if you ever hear it mentioned you can feign ignorance. Do not investigate it and if you stumble across it show as much indifference as possible."

Zuko nodded. "Did Grandfather really order the village to be eliminated?"

"That's the scary part. He didn't get a chance to. When the inspector general was sent to investigate, they found the village abandoned."

"Was it spirits?"

"No. Much worse. Do you remember when I told you there are hidden forces at work in this world?"

"Yeah?"

"That was one of them. They call themselves the Red Lotus."

"Who—"

"And that's all I'll say about them for now. The same rules apply to the Red Lotus as for the other two, if not doubly so. If you speak that name, you'll probably be dead within the week. Nod if you understand."

Zuko quickly nodded as paranoia set in.  _They're powerful enough to kill the prince of the Fire Nation…_

"Any other questions? If you have any now's the time to ask," Iroh said in a whisper that spread throughout the room.

"Just one more. What the Avatar was saying about other worlds and gods, was that true?"

"He was definitely lying about something. That much I could tell. What he was lying about? That I'm not sure," Iroh said before grinning. "By the way good job on 'spilling' the relation between us."

"Thanks." Zuko smiled a little. It was nice being able to apply some of the negotiation tactics he had learned. Giving the opponent information by 'mistake' would surely lower their guard. They had gained a lot of information from that little slip-up. "Wait," Zuko paused, "you didn't really answer my question."

"Yes," Iroh laughed heartily. His nephew was learning. "I suppose I didn't. There's time for that later." He made his way to the bed and softened up the pillow before lying down. "Right now I need some rest. Being up for a day can't be too good for my health. How about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did your firebending return yet?"

Zuko brought his palm forward and summoned a small fire in the center. He tried to make it grow larger but there was something preventing him. There was a tightness in his muscles that increased in proportion to his efforts. "I can't do it," Zuko said panting. "What did she do to me?"

"She blocked your chi from moving," Iroh sighed. "Give it a few hours or so and it should wear off."

"That's good," Zuko said with relief. He shook his arm around as he could feel a cramp coming on. "What do we do now?

"We'll visit Aang in two hours or so. Give him some time to think. You should study up on the Spirit World in the meantime. It wouldn't be wise to face the Avatar unprepared."

"Got it." Zuko nodded. He had already planned to use the brief reprieve to fact check what the Avatar was saying. Despite what his uncle had said, he couldn't help but be fascinated by the characters Aang had shown. What other secrets was he hiding? "Sleep well," Zuko said, but his uncle had already fallen into a deep sleep. The prince closed the door and left.

* * *

"Wow we're going so fast," Sokka said as he laid down twirling a staff he had found underneath Appa's saddle. From what he could tell it seemed ceremonial as he didn't think it was strong enough to serve as a regular staff. "I think our canoe is faster than him."

"Shut up," Katara glared at him before turning her attention back to Appa. She hated to admit it, but her brother was right. At this pace it'd be sunset before they entered the ocean. "Come on Appa, can you please fly? Aang's in trouble and he needs our help." But Appa gave no response and continued at his lackadaisical pace.

"Wasn't there a phrase that Aang said?" Sokka wondered out loud. "Was it 'Fly now'? 'Soar to the sky'? 'Elevate'? 'Yip yip'?"

"Can you be serious for once in your lifetime?" Katara yelled before she suddenly felt a new sensation. There was a rumbling underneath her as Appa picked up speed, going faster and faster, until there was a feeling of weightlessness. The sky bison had jumped into the sky his legs providing thrust as he gained elevation.

"Katara, we're flying, we're flying!" Sokka yelled as soon as they cleared a hundred feet. Never in his wildest dreams would he think he'd able to take off into the sky. "Look there's our village."

Katara turned to see a circular ice wall down below. It wouldn't take long until she was home again. They would help Aang get to safety and come back straight home. She even left a small letter for Gran Gran explaining everything in case they ran into trouble. She took in the scene one last time, squinting to see little tiny figures running around. "Alright let's go."

"What? Where are we going? Kino village is that way," Sokka yelled. He quickly found out that he'd have to amplify his own voice just to beat the wind.

"We're not going to Kino village," Katara said, also raising her voice. She slightly pulled on the ropes to change Appa's heading to the sea. "We don't need a ship to catch up to them."

"But we need more people if we're going to rescue Aang."

"There's no time. They already have an hour head start on us. We can't give them more time to escape," Katara replied. Hopefully Appa was faster than the cruiser or else they'd have no chance of catching up to him.

* * *

"Akane, what are you doing here?" Saburo asked.

"Bringing the Avatar lunch, what else?" Akane told the guardsman. In his right hand he carried a tray that had sushi rice and several dipping sauces and in his left a glass of water.

"What happened to Itsumo? He was supposed to bring it," Kosuke, the other guard asked. It was slight but Akane could tell he had taken a slight offensive stance toward him.

"General Iroh called him for something. I'm not sure what."

"I see," Saburo said eyeing Akane suspiciously. While he had never personally known the man, he knew Akane usually kept to himself. He wasn't so much a person at gatherings but a familiar presence. "Alright I'll hand the food to him. You guard the door along with Kosuke."

"Fine," Akane said handing the food to Saburo.

Kosuke knocked on the door three times before Saburo spoke. "Avatar, we have lunch for you. Step back against the wall." Kosuke immediately opened the door, turning the wheel mechanism and Saburo stepped through. Akane took position to the left of the other guardsmen.

"Thank you," Aang said. Even though he was a prisoner on the ship he couldn't help but be thankful for the meal they provided. It looked delicious.  _Hmm. Is this what Stockholm Syndrome's like?_

"You're welcome. Don't move from the wall until I lock the door."

The airbender nodded in affirmation when he suddenly heard a thunderous sound from the doorway. Saburo turned around just in time to receive a bullet in the face. In less than two seconds the two guardsmen were dead. Akane aimed his gun into the room to fire for a third and final time but the airbender transformed into a blur.

The assassin felt a huge burst of air push him against the wall with enough force to take his breath away. Aang ran down the hallway as Akane got up. He fired two more shots one which he knew hit the Avatar but probably only grazed him.

Akane ran after the Avatar barely catching up with his ridiculous speed.  _I should have shot him first then the other two,_  he lamented. If his master saw him now, he'd probably bash his skull in. Unfortunately for Akane his instinct to live got the better of him and he chose his survival over the death of the target, an amateur mistake considering how important this mission was.

He didn't see the Avatar anymore, but he still heard his footsteps as light as they were. That and the fact that each hallway Aang ran down left a gust of air in its wake Akane knew where he was headed. Ten seconds later Akane joined the Avatar on the deck of the ship, his gun squarely aimed at him.

Just as Akane was about to fire he hesitated. There was a small shadow between him and Aang that was growing larger and larger by the second. He looked up and saw the impossible. A giant beast, third the size of the ship, was floating twenty feet above him.

"Aang! Get on quick," Katara yelled.

"What- Katara, Sokka, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think? Come one we have to go!" Sokka said.

Akane fired another bullet, shaking off his shock, but Aang was already in motion jumping to his left. "Don't come down! It's too dangerous," Aang yelled, slightly relieved to see Appa safe and sound. Then again, he wasn't really sure how safe it was being here. Aang began channeling his chi towards his leg.

"Akane!' Iroh bellowed as he and two other soldiers behind him summoned fireballs. Iroh slightly gave pause to acknowledge Appa but was too angry to entertain that curiosity further. "How dare you? Put that gun down or I'll burn you to ashes."

But the threat was too late. Aang had taken the opportunity of Iroh's sudden entrance to jump toward Appa but Akane fired his last bullet hitting his victim in the right leg. The chi that provided the propulsion dissipated resulting in Aang plunging into the icy waters.

 _It was done_  Akane smiled. He had accomplished the impossible. With the shackles around the airbender's hands and bullet wound in his leg, swimming was futile. Nothing could take away from the fact that he had succeeded in killing the Avatar. Not even the fact that he was currently on fire, courtesy of Iroh staying true to his word.

But he would not scream or beg for mercy. He would not tarnish his legacy like that. For he was Akane, the assassin who bested the Avatar, and his tale would be told throughout the world. At least that's what would have happened if he had succeeded.

It started off as a rumble barely noticeable to the most experienced of sailors. But then the ship began to rock back and forth rapidly. Katara, who at this point had been fighting with Sokka to rush after Aang, stopped her protests when she felt the familiar energy.

A large twisting tower of water erupted from the sea pushing Aang sixty feet into the sky. And that's when Akane knew it was over. He could feel the indescribable rage in the Avatar's silver-white eyes as they locked onto him. The last thing the assassin saw was ice, a great deal of ice as Aang sent a storm of ice spears in his direction.

As soon as the assassin had died a force took sudden control of the ship. Iroh felt the ship lurch forward toward Aang as he bended the water around it. And like a spring being coiled Aang released a tidal wave pushing the ship in the opposite direction before freezing the deck of the ship in place.

With that Aang fell unconscious, heading straight toward Appa. "Got him!" Sokka exclaimed as he caught the airbender before he fell off. "I can't believe he could do all this," Sokka remarked as he looked at the damage that just one person could cause.

"Let's go," Katara reminded her brother. Just before leaving Katara glared at Iroh in contempt.

Iroh sighed as he watched the Avatar and his friends leave on the sky bison. This day had been a complete wash. On the one hand he gained a lot of useful information. But on the other the Avatar probably wouldn't trust him again. Not to mention that his crew that he personally handpicked had still been infiltrated by the Red Lotus.  _Focus_  Iroh told himself.  _One problem at a time._  The first thing he needed to do was get rid of all the ice.

* * *

Kanna angrily crushed the letter in her right hand. She should have known better than to trust her granddaughter would be patient. After all, she took after her grandmother. She stormed off to her tent making sure she wasn't followed. In the corner was a chest that contained her past. A past she had sworn she would never visit again. But her family was in danger and as such there was no time for promises.


	6. The Light Seen Around the World

**Northern Water Tribe**

Rinrock hated his job. Every morning he would get up bright and early to offer prayers before the temple. He'd pray to the gods of the moon and the ocean, a process that wasn't too bad. It only took fifteen minutes. But then he had to pray to the Avatar and that took an entire hour. On the solstices the time spent doubled.

First, he would have to read aloud that day's selection of prayer scrolls before the temple. Then, for some absurd reason, he had to circle the temple in a dance that took ten minutes to complete. Finally, the stupidest part of the daily ritual came, something he had pleaded with his father to get rid of, but it was to no avail. There had been a hundred eighty nine Avatars throughout history. And so he had to bow before the temple, a total of a hundred eighty nine times.

Sad to say he had gotten used to it. He had only been doing it since childhood. Ten years later and at least he could say he had a great core strength or that's what he hoped. His worst nightmare was that this was completely useless as all his friends said it was.

Rinrock desperately wanted to quit but his father would've been in complete despair. For generations, his male ancestral line had taken care of the temple, from his great great grandfather down to him. They of course couldn't stop now, could they?

After the morning prayer ritual, he thankfully could do whatever he wanted. Throughout the day people, mostly elders, would visit the temples. The younger generation had stopped coming altogether except on special occasions. At night he would repair whatever damage the ice statues in the temples had received and get ready for the next day.

Today especially had been exhausting. A middle aged woman had visited with her kids and one of them managed to melt an ice sculpture of an ancestral chief off. He and his father had to open one of the older texts for an illustration and repair the damage by hand. Thankfully his father was much more of an artist than he was.

"Check the Avatar temple. See if it's alright," Rinjin yelled to his son. He would have done it himself, but he had been called away by the chief and was already down the hill.

"Got it dad," Rinrock yelled back. They had just finished inspecting all the other statues in the Moon and Ocean Temple that he really didn't want to go all the way to the Avatar temple. But his father always had a sixth sense about these things. He wasn't sure how, but he knew whenever he hadn't checked on either temple for the day.  _Maybe there's some sort of thing that happens when I open the door_ , Rinrock reasoned.

And so Rinrock made the trek upwards to the temple making sure not to fall on the ice. The temple was a large wooden one story building. From the outside it was completely unremarkable. The only way someone would even be able to tell it was the Avatar temple was if they had lived here. On the inside, however, were rows of statues just like in the Moon and Water Temple, but instead of chiefs there were statues of Avatars. More specifically, the temple contained a statue of every Avatar of the Water Tribes. Each statue was carefully maintained by the caretakers of the temple, a solemn honor his father had told him. Personally Rinrock couldn't care less. The statues may have been impressive the first time around. but thousands of inspections later had rendered them mundane.

This time around it would have been no different except now there was a white light beneath the entrance.  _What could that be?_  Rinrock thought. He entered the temple and was blinded by a blistering light. He shielded his eyes until they adjusted to the brightness and saw to his awe that all the statues were glowing. Their eyes were all giving off the same white light.

"No way," Rinrock said aloud. If all the statues were glowing, then that could only mean one thing: the Avatar was currently in the Avatar state.  _But that's only possible if the Avatar had returned,_ Rinrock countered his conclusion before the realization hit him.  _The Avatar had returned._

"How are the new recruits coming along Pakku?" Chief Arnook asked. Sunset had come early today just like it always had for the past six months. While it was beautiful, he was getting tired of the long nights.

"Terribly, they lack discipline," Pakku said looking below at his new forty three students. "Some of them have promise, but others are only suited to be grunts." His eyes narrowed on one boy in particular who couldn't even get the form of the basic water whip correct.

"You say that every year," Arnook laughed. "And yet our soldiers become ever stronger."

"I agree," Rinjin said joining in on his best friend's commendation. "Are you sure you aren't being too strict?"

"Strict? These boys are too coddled. If I had shown this display to my master I would've been whipped and rightfully so. This is becoming too pathetic." Just as Pakku was about to scold his students a distant ringing gave him pause. "What is that?"

"I think it's a bell," Chief Arnook said squinting his eyes. "Isn't that from the Avatar temple Rinjin?"

"It is," Rinjin growled. What had his son done now? "If you excuse me Arnook, I need to see to the temple."

"Let me accompany you."

"I don't think that's necessary—"

"Nonsense," Arnook smiled. "I haven't seen the temple in a long time anyway. Might as well pay respects."

"Keep practicing!" Pakku yelled. "Don't you dare let me catch you slacking off. Especially you Kuvam. That water whip better be perfect by the time I come back." He turned to the two men before him. "I'm coming along. Anything to break the tedium."

"Excellent, let's go," Chief Arnook said, walking ahead of the other two men. The hill climb up the stairs should have been quick, but it cut through the city's marketplace, which was quite busy right now. At one point Pakku would have bended himself some stairs to create a shortcut, but his two friends weren't waterbenders leaving him to climb the 'normal' way. It was only when they reached the top that they saw crowds of people surrounding the temple.

"Make way, make way for Chief Arnook," Rinjin said. He should have been angry but right now he was filled with a morbid curiosity. What could his son have possibly done to attract this many people?

"It can't be," Pakku said when he made it to the clearing. The doors to the temple had been thrown open releasing white light into the night. "He's back…"

Chief Arnook and Rinjin stared at the light, their jaws dropping to the floor. It didn't matter to them that It could blind them. Right now nothing mattered but that light and its meaning.

"Dad, Dad!' Rinrock yelled in excitement. "He's back. The Avatar's returned to end the war!"

Rinjin didn't say anything instead opting to fall to his knees. "I can't believe it. He's finally returned." For three generations, his forefathers had waited to ring the bell to no avail and now his son had announced his return.

"Chief," Pakku said striding down the stairs, "If you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." But the chief didn't respond. He was too mesmerized by the light of the statues, the peace and calm that it provided.

In war, there were moments when the tides of battles could quickly turn. A sudden unexpected advantage could swiftly ensure victory for one side even if they had many disadvantages. This was one such moment and Pakku wouldn't let it go to waste.

* * *

**Red Lotus Site #4, Fire Nation**

"Any other business to discuss?" Deputy Director Ming asked in her soft but determined voice.

"I don't have anything," Medical Corps Director Chun reported.

"Me neither," Science Director Xaan said.

Further denials went around the table between the various directors and heads of departments of the Red Lotus. Every month directors and deputy directors would meet to give briefings on the state of their progress in their department. No one actually wanted to come, but their Director would always insist that everyone make it. Of course, he didn't make it to the meeting and instead the twenty eight year old Deputy Director took his place.

Was this an insult? A test of some sorts? The youngest one in the room besides the Deputy Director was the Master First Class of the Ancient Technology branch in the Science division and he was forty eight. It was odd listening to briefings given by someone as young as her.

"Actually I've got something," Intelligence Director Shung interrupted. He had a long beard and had a habit of talking with his eyes closed. Sometimes people wondered if he was even awake, though no one really bothered asking. Internally everyone was groaning. The meeting had already gone on for more than an hour, filled with the most banal of reports from the Science division. Given how long-winded Shung could be the meeting could stretch on for another hour. "Yomok, you're going to want to hear this."

The Director of Operations perked his ears. He had a head of long white hair and was an imposing figure in the Red Lotus. It didn't hurt that he was seven feet tall. "What happened?"

"I just got word, before this meeting, that a member of the society died, thought you should know."

"Who was it?"

"Akane of the 57th class. I don't know how he died, but his soul slip burned out."

"I'm not sure who that is," Yomok said, trying to remember anyone that could have been. It was only after a couple of minutes of shuffling papers his deputy director whispered the answer into his ears. "Ah yes. Apparently, he graduated bottom tier so no one important." Yomok laughed as his deputy directory brought a palm to her face. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? It would've been more interesting than listening to Xaan drone on."

"Hey-" Xaan protested.

"Yes," Shung said. "I would've said something earlier, but I fell asleep. Did I miss anything important?"

"No, not really," Yomok said as everyone but Xaan snickered.

"Do you know where Akane was assigned?"

"Let's see," Yomok flipped through a couple of pages before he got his answer. "Assigned to General Iroh and Crown Prince Zuko."

"So he should be somewhere in the South Pole. What was his mis—" Shung was interrupted by an opening of the doors, something that never happened before. Whenever the Red Lotus met security was paramount. This time they were sequestered to one of their secret sites. It was a plain room with only one long table, chairs, and jugs of water. The room was located five stories below a small inconspicuous grocery store. Each floor was guarded by security personnel with the heaviest security on the fifth floor. The fact that these doors had opened during a meeting was a cause for alarm as everyone in the room stood up ready for a fight.

In stepped an old bald man barely six feet tall. He had large bushy brows, sharp nose, and a long thin white mustache. He wore plain clothes like that of a Fire Nation commoner, no exactly like that of a commoner. If the Red Lotus members didn't know any better, they would've assumed he stole them from someone.

"Director!" Everyone shouted together and gave the appropriate salute.

"At ease everyone," the Director said as he walked toward the head of the table where Ming sat. She got out of the chair and bowed to her master who in turn smiled. "I hope you all weren't too hard on Ming here. It's her first time hosting a meeting. I'm sorry I couldn't attend, but I had an emergency meeting with Ozai."

"Meeting?" Shung asked.

"Three hours ago the Fire Sages of the Capital Temple saw the Avatar statues glow." There were audible gasps in the room along with some confusion from the younger generation including Ming. Just as soon as the whispers started, they ended as the Director continued. "They sealed the room, closed the temples, and the Head Priest himself ran over to the Royal Palace. Ozai called me and we visited the temple. The statues only stopped glowing twenty minutes ago."

"I'm sorry Director, but what does it mean that the statues were glowing?" Ming asked.

"I keep forgetting how young the newer generation is," the Director smiled as Ming slightly blushed. "The Avatar has returned, rather boldly considering he went into the Avatar state."

This time the gasps finally came from the masters more than sixty. They had assumed that the Avatar would never return considering it had already been a century. Their grandchildren believed he wasn't nothing more than a myth.

"The Trickster has announced himself to the world. By this time tomorrow everyone will know of his return. How he will tip the scales of war I'm not sure, but we must prepare," the Director said solemnly.

"Pardon me Director, but do we know where he is?" Xaan asked.

"No, but with our luck he's probably in Ba Sing Se already gathering an army."

No one spoke as everyone was thinking of the myriad of questions the Avatar's reveal presented before them. Would he support the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom? Would he have his own side deciding both sides were at fault? Was he as powerful as in the legends?

"Excuse me," Yomok's deputy director spoke. "I might know where the Avatar is."

"Oh?" the Director raised an eyebrow. "How so Toma?"

"The assassin on General Iroh's ship, Akane. He died three hours ago about the same time you said the Avatar revealed himself."

"An interesting coincidence but—"

"No Director, she's right," Yomok interrupted, his eyes widening in realization. "Akane's mission was to assassinate the Avatar if the two ever found him. He must have attacked him, the airbender went into the Avatar state, and then he killed him."

"Why was he there in the first place? The chance of the Avatar ever showing up was too low," Xaan frowned.

"I told him to do so," the Director said plainly. "If we are prepared for any possibility, then opportunities will present themselves. If Akane hadn't died. we wouldn't know the location of the Avatar."

"What do we do now?" Shung asked.

"Shung what's the nearest naval base to the South Pole?"

"Zuroch Base, if I remember correctly."

"Who's the Red there?" the Director asked who was now pacing back and forth. No on spoke in fear that his train of thought would be interrupted.

"Admiral Zhao I believe. He has command of the ocean in that area."

"An admiral, that's good. Send him a message to search for General Iroh and Prince Zuko. They'll probably show up at the base anyway. Make sure he interrogates them about what happened. What direction he went? What caused his Avatar state and so on and so forth."

"Why would they show up at Zuroch?" Shung frowned.

At this the Director abruptly paused his pacing and turned to address the room. "You wouldn't know this, but I've personally seen the power of the Avatar state, the damage it can cause. That ship will be damaged enough."

"Understood. I'll get right on it."

"Alright then. We will be meeting tomorrow at the same time. You're all dismissed."

As the officers of the Red Lotus departed the Director sunk deeper into his thoughts. The Avatar had returned. Before today the war had been a battle of attrition, one that he was sure the Fire Nation would have won. Now they were on a timer.

Finally left alone, the Director unclenched his hands that had started to shake so violently when he had heard the news. No matter how much time had passed he couldn't forget that memory that had been burned into his head, that memory of the old man in red and his searing white eyes.

* * *

**Omashu War Room, Earth Kingdom**

"Based on Kanna's letter Iroh had Aang in his custody at around two hours before sunset," King Boomi said for the third time to the emergency assembly of masters and grandmasters of the White Lotus. The first two times he had assumed that everyone who was in Omashu was present but somehow more people kept filing in. "He went into the Avatar state around sunset and escaped on his flying bison due north."

"Well this is a mess," Grandmaster Fong, Head of Intelligence, laughed. "At least the Avatar's still alive." She saw a few nods in appreciation while others looked dismayed that they had lost their advantage.

"For now, at least. Not even three hours have passed before the Red Lotus tried to kill him," Grandmaster Faor, Head of Operations, replied.

"Who knows the Avatar has returned?" Fong asked.

'Everyone," Boomi smiled. "Or at least everyone will know by tomorrow. Each temple in the four nations has signaled the return of Aang." The King of Omashu took out a small piece of yellow paper. "Pakku sent me a letter by messenger bird as soon as he found out. There is no way to hide this secret, it's already out in the open."

"Did he really have a gun?" one of the masters from the back asked.

"Yes," Boomi nodded. "He had a revolver."

"Why are we limiting ourselves?" Faor asked. "The Red Lotus keeps violating the treaty every chance they get, and we just continue to let them get away. We need to at least arm our soldiers."

"What do you think will happen if the White Lotus soldiers found out?" Boomi asked in between bites of rock candy. While everyone else was sitting straight in their chair he was laying down, his feet on the table. Somehow though, he still gave off a regal presence, as if being king was second nature to him. "They'll spread the knowledge and use of guns to the world no matter how much we tell them not to. Imagine that kind of power in a commoner's hands, the devastation it would cause as bender and non-bender alike are killed before they can even think."

"We still need to retaliate," Fong said. "Show them we don't take any violation lightly."

"Hmm," Boomi thought. "We will arm masters up to the 2nd class in firearms then. That way we'll be ready for any escalation they might have planned." There were murmurs in agreement of the twenty five or so members in the room, some even excited at the prospect of learning how to use the gun.

"Escalation? What escalation?" Fong asked.

"You don't think the Red Lotus is going to stop at guns, right? Now that Aang has revealed himself they will try every trick in the book to kill him. Bombs, poison gas, blackmail, hostages, kidnapping, nothing's off the table," Boomi cackled. "If what Iroh said is true, then things are much worse than they seem. Aang is only twelve years old. He has no experience in life, let alone war. We need to escort him back to base as quickly as possible before this mess becomes more of a nightmare than it already is."

The once celebratory mood had vanished, replaced with a dour one. The fighting between the two groups had already been intense. How much more fervent could the fighting get now that the Red Lotus was desperate? Some shuddered at the thought.

"On that cheerful note, I hope you all sleep well tonight. We'll meet tomorrow when more of our members have arrived," Boomi turned to his two oldest friends. "Fong, Faor, get Yiko here. No point discussing the future without the science division."

The two nodded and left the room along with the others. Boomi, who now had another piece of rocky candy, was spinning it in his hand, deep in thought. Before him, on the table, was a map of the world littered with red and white spots. Sometimes he would spend the entire day staring at the map, trying to predict the opponent's next move. From his robe, Boomi took out a white piece covered in a blue arrow and placed it near the South Pole.  _Where are you going Aang?_

* * *

Capital Island was a small island off the western coast of the Fire Nation mainland. The island itself was a microcosm of Fire Nation society. The poor and middle class lived at sea level in Harbor City providing essential trade to the rest of the country while the rich lived at the summit of the mountain in the capital, Royal Caldera city.

The mountain, in actuality a dormant volcano, provided a natural defense to the city. In fact, it was the primary reason why Fire Lord Arzin, after a long and brutal civil war that resulted in the original capital being sacked, chose the crater for the new capital. And so Royal Caldera City became the heartbeat of the country as all the Fire Nation elites had a residence there. Many didn't use them as their own estates on the mainland were more spacious. Instead, the city had become a game of sorts with the elite trying to own real estate as close to the center as possible where, of course, the Royal Palace was located.

With all the oligarchy and the head of state in one place the city had to be impenetrable and indeed it was. Fifty kilometers before the island was a massive blockade controlled by at least ten Emperor Class vessels that restricted all ships from nearing the island. In the harbor there were multiple ships that were always ready to engage with any enemy at a moment's notice. On land, between the capital and Harbor City was the Royal Plaza, which was guarded by the 2nd Fire Nation Army Regiment.

As a final precaution the only way to enter the city from the Royal Plaza was up a long staircase that would force any invasion force to form into a line making it easier to delay and attack them. All in all, Royal Caldera City was heavily fortified, some would say even more so than walled city of Ba Sing Se. Indeed for its entire history, the city, and even more so, the island had never suffered a single invasion attempt.

It was unfortunate then that record would be broken when a spaceship crashed right into the island.

"Azula, it's time to stop," Li the elder said. She, like her twin sister, wore a long and elegant purple robe. It had been quite an expensive purchase, but it was worth it considering how much heat it could keep in at night.

"Stop?" Azula yelled giving a kick as blue fire erupted from her leg. "I'll stop when I get this move correct. Until then I'd kindly prefer if you shut up."

"Enough Azula," Lo countered. "Anymore and you'll tire yourself out. Unless you want to remain in bed tomorrow you need to stop."

But Azula didn't speak this time choosing to ignore her twin mentors. Every day she would spend three hours bending with one of the twin sisters. Some days, like today, both sisters would join to teach her, much to her chagrin. They were good teachers, great even, better than the last teacher she had. But as good as they were, they were still non-benders. They couldn't feel the energy that was rushing through her body. Azula had caught her second wind and she was not about to let up.

She took in a deep breath and assumed a tiger stance.  _Focus_  she thought to herself as her hands erupted in blue fire. She jumped into the air as her limbs moved swiftly to counter potential strikes.  _Almost there…_  Azula landed and delivered a final kick that erupted into a flame twice as powerful yet more focused and narrow.

"'Excellent!" Li commended. The princess was a prodigy indeed. It was unheard of anyone completing the mid-level firebending skill set by age fourteen. She could only imagine how skillful Azula would be when she came of age. "Will you come rest now?"

"Yes," Azula breathed heavily but smiled to herself in satisfaction. "Now would be a good time to rest."

"With enough time, you will become the most powerful firebender of your generation, if not ever," Lo said but Azula paid no heed. She already had enough yes men to deal with. She didn't need any more.

"Tomorrow," the fire princess said as they made their way to the palace, "I want to extend my training to four hours. I don't have time to dawdle around like my idiot brother."

"Four hours?!" Lo asked. "That would be entirely too much. Your body wouldn't be able to handle that much stress."

"I'll decide what my body can handle Li. You just instruct," Azula replied.

"I'm not Li. She's Li," Lo pointed to her sister.

"Do I look like I care? Honestly if you didn't want me to confuse you two maybe you shouldn't wear the same purple dress every day. I think my father pays you enough to afford different clothing."

"But Princess Azula," Li said, ignoring her insults. "Why are you in such a rush to get stronger?"

"Why? Did you seriously just ask me why?" Azula said, turning around to face her mentors. "The Avatar has returned, and you expect me to sit around as he comes for my father?"

"No—"

"Exactly," Azula interrupted. "We need to double our efforts. Li, you'll get as many of the restricted airbending texts for me as possible. I'll also need to double my tactics training as well so I'll need those tactic scrolls. Lo, you'll draw up a training regiment to increase my stamina and speed as quickly as possible. Is that clear?"

Lo quickly nodded, but Li was somewhat hesitant. "Haven't you already been through the airbending texts?"

"Not as carefully as I should have been," Azula said impatiently. "We're dealing with a bender who's a master of an element that's been dead for a hundred years. That type of monopoly makes him an unexpected variable when it comes to combat. If there's any hope for defeating him it will be in those records."

"How very astute of you," Li nodded in appreciation. Her student had put a lot of thought into her course of action. "However, it'll take two days for us to get the texts."

"Why?" Azula growled.

"Bureaucracy I'm afraid. They are restricted texts after all Princess Azula."

"We don't have time for burea—", Azula was yelling before she caught something in the corner of her eye. Up above in the night sky was a small faint light slowly moving across the sea of stars. "What is that?"

The twin elders followed the direction of her finger to the small ball of light. "It's probably a shooting star," Li offered.

"No, it's too slow for a shooting star."

"A comet perhaps?" Lo said.

"Too small," Azula replied quickly but she wasn't sure. The comet could have been very far away. She was just about to dismiss the celestial body when it did the unexpected. "Did it just get brighter?"

"I think it did," Lo commented.

For the next minute or so the three stood stunned as they saw the meteor not only dramatically increase in size but speed. The meteor, now twice as bright as the moon, zoomed westward across the night sky leaving a trail of fire behind it. Azula had to squint her eyes as she tried to follow the meteor's path, but it was too bright.

"Is it coming here?" Azula asked as light increased in brightness and intensity.

"No," Lo said in awe. In all her years she had never seen such a spectacle. A few seconds passed before she spoke again. "It's too low to hit us."

"It's still going to crash on the island," Li added quickly before the three ran for cover.

But no impact ever came. Instead all they heard was a distant thud coming from the west.

"Princess, are you alright?" Li asked. She was pleasantly surprised to find she was still alive. From the size and speed of that meteor she was sure that they were done for.

"We need to find out what that was," Azula said, angry not that the meteor had hit the island, but that she had fallen in her attempt to find cover.

"It's too dangerous," Lo said panting from the excitement. She was too old for surprises, especially one as big as this one.

"That's why we have to find out. We can't let whoever or whatever that was get away. If they're here, then they're an immediate threat to the country," Azula scolded.

"There's no need. The army will make it there before us."

"No they won't!" Azula yelled at Li. "They're in the plaza. The crash is to the left below us. It will take them forever to make it through the forest."

"She's right Li. We can't let any invader escape."

"Fine, but Princess Azula please be careful. Stay behind us."

"You'll only slow me down," Azula yelled as she ran ahead before they could get a word in.  _First the Avatar and now this… it can't be a coincidence_.

The twins ran after her but at a slower speed making sure to keep their eye on her at all times. "She can't hear us, can she?" Lo asked.

"Not from what I can tell. Do you have any idea what that was?"

"No clue. But whatever it was we'll need to contain it."

"We'll need to send a message to the council," Li said. "They'll need to secure the area immediately, especially if the army gets there first."

##################################

"Aren't you two tired?" Azula asked with a panted breath. She had underestimated the distance from the city to the impact site. They first had to make their way down the long staircase. Only Azula decided it would have been faster if they made it a half the way down and then run around the caldera. This proved to be a terrible decision considering how rocky the mountain was. The entire time she had been running as fast as she could and now, she was paying the price thirty minutes later.

"All good things in moderation Princess Azula," Li smiled. "If you're too rash you'll tire yourself out before you can get where you're going."

"But you're so old. How have you been keeping up with me? What's your secret?"

"Age doesn't define strength," Lo chided. "Will does."

Azula simply huffed at her teacher's non-sensible answer and made her way into the woods as Li and Lo closely followed along. Five minutes in and they saw the first sign of the impact. Countless trees layered the ground, and some were even stacked three trees high. The closer they got to the impact site the more carnage they saw. Now the trees were burnt and stomped on as if a giant had put their foot on them. She couldn't see it, but she could tell the earth in front of her was scorched black from the heat it was giving off. About ten meters in front of her was a large crater. It was impossible to tell how deep or wide it was given how she couldn't see that far, but it felt enormous. Just as Azula was about to approach the crater a hand jumped from behind her and covered her mouth.

"Don't make a sound," Li whispered.

Azula had almost attacked the elder in shock. She had half a mind to actually do it, but then she heard the humming. There was someone in the crater, someone they couldn't see. Azula strained her ears to locate the source, but the humming had stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The three got on their hands and feet and crawled to the edge of the crater making sure to be as quiet as possible. Fortunately the darkness provided them the same cover it did the stranger.

When they had finally made their way to the edge the three peered over in awe. At first Azula was confused. There were many a time she had spent walking along this same route in the past and she had never seen a building as large as the one before her. The building itself was circular in shape and made up of some sort of gray metal. From what the moonlight exposed she could tell it was quite large as it took up a decent chunk of the crater in size.  _No it can't be…_  Azula thought to herself. But what else could explain it? If the building was in the middle of the crater, then it had to be what crashed. She turned to her teachers, but they too had the same puzzled look. Before she could continue her train of thought the humming started again.

It was definitely a woman who was humming the tune, that much was obvious. What she was humming though was another question. The humming continued to fill the air, getting louder and louder as each minute passed. Azula told herself that it was an auditory illusion, that the reason the humming was so loud was because everything else in the forest was so quiet, but it didn't help. It felt like the woman was humming right next to her ear. The humming continued for minutes on end until it again suddenly stopped, and then a voice spoke.

"Ok, do you think the floodlights will work now?" a woman asked.

Azula, Li, and Lo waited for a response, but none came. Were there two people? A few moments later, they were blinded with light. Night had turned to day as light illuminated the forest. The three flinched, their eyes slowly adjusting to the new sun before them.

"Finally, I can see," the woman below them exclaimed.

"What is that?" Azula whispered in shock.

"It could be some sort of spirit," Lo responded.

"Don't be daft," Li chided. "That's obviously some sort of armor."

The other two looked at the invader again and realized she was right. The woman was wearing completely white armor. The armor reflected light in many directions making it hard to see through the intense glare.

 _Is she a soldier?_ Azula thought. For the first time in her life she felt a tiny trickle of fear, which, of course, she complete squashed. She had to be completely rational right now. She could ill afford to let her emotions take control.

If this was an earthbender then that would mean the Earth Kingdom had the capability to launch huge projectiles from hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers away. But that would make no sense, Azula reasoned. Their military was decades behind the Fire Nation and yet they launched such a massive projectile over such an enormous distance?

Perhaps then this was a secret test that the Fire Nation was conducting? But for what purpose? Why fire buildings at an enemy? Why even conduct the test on Capital Island and risk incurring the wrath of the nobles, not to mention the Fire Lord?  _No_ , Azula concluded,  _that doesn't make sense either._

That only left the condition that she feared the most. This was someone who had crashed from the sky. But what could that possibly mean?

"Yeah so, the engines are completely destroyed," the woman sighed. "Good news is that we did survive." What she was most thankful for, however, was that the ship's shields had absorbed most of the impact. As soon as the ship had entered the planet's atmosphere it sensed the sudden increase in acceleration and projected four layers of blue barriers around the ship. However, even with all the barriers active, the deceleration from the impact was too great to be completely absorbed and devastated the ship.

 ** _You fool! You steered the ship out of the slipstream_** _,_  a deep and commanding voice yelled in her mind.

"I steered the ship out?" the woman yelled. "They were firing on us in hyperspace! Who the hell does that? How the hell do they even do that?"

**_They do, you arrogant woman! They're strong enough to follow through on their plans, unlike you. If we lose them Black, I will rain my vengeance upon you._ **

"Oh do shut up," Black groaned. "Is the fire suppression system active?"

 ** _Fire's almost out_. _How did we lose them?_**  he asked changing the subject.  ** _We were in the same sequence._**

"I'm not sure. My tracker should have kept track of them, but it led us here."

 _ **And where is here exactly?**  
_ "Hold on," Black said before she struggled to climb out of the easily thirty meter crater her ship had left in the forest. Thankfully, Azula realized, she had decided to climb opposite where she and her teachers were located.

It took her a while as Black had to avoid all the small fires on the trek upwards. It was only after she made it out of the crater that she started to count her blessings. "The grass is green, trees aren't moving about, and there seems to be only one moon in the sky." Black squinted her eyes and could see the familiar maria on the lunar body. If she looked hard enough, she could make out Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum, two of the many "seas" on the Moon. "There's no doubt about it, that's definitely my moon."

**_Then Is this—_ **

"Seems like it," Black twisted her helmet off and took in a deep breath. Though the air was somewhat humid the breeze she felt put a smile on her face, even after all that had happened. It was good to be back home again.

 _So she is human_  Azula confirmed to herself before she had to backpedal from her conclusion. She looked at the woman in awe. The woman stood almost two meters tall, taller than most of the men in the army. She had slightly longer than shoulder length black hair but instead of it being straight it was filled with curls. Her eyes were larger than any she had seen before. But what really piqued her interest was how pale she was. Azula could have sworn that the being in front of her was a ghost or a spirit as she had an otherworldly presence to her. She turned to Li and Lo only to see the same stunned look on their faces.

 ** _How are we going to catch them?_**  the voice asked the woman, making sure she could hear the inherent threatening tone in his question.

"It'll be easy now that we're on an Earth. Well relatively easy. There's still a lot of work we need to do but we'll beat them there no matter how far they get."

**_Do not toy with me Black. They have my son. If even one hair of his is harmed—_ **

"Relax. Your son is safe. Right now they're going at lightspeed, which means they're frozen in time. While we are not."

**_They have a head start and the same "advantage" we do._ **

"Doesn't matter," Black cackled a little. She still couldn't believe their luck. Of all the places they could've crashed in the universe, they found themselves on an Earth. The real question was why the tracker had led them here in the first place. Black fell backwards onto the grass and took in the scenery. The night sky was illuminated with a myriad of stars each of them twinkling brightly. She tried looking for any constellations that might seem familiar but knew it was futile. Even though they landed on an Earth there was no way they were even in the Laniakea Supercluster let alone the Milky Way. "They'll be stuck in time for seven hundred years the way they initiated that launch."

**_Even through hyperspace?_ **

"Especially through hyperspace. While those idiots are traveling through the slipstream, stuck in time, we'll cut ahead of them, catch them by surprise."

**_But they're going at lightspeed…_ **

"And we can travel at superluminal speeds," Black smiled. "We'll beat them there, get our revenge, you get your son and his friends, and everything resolves itself."

**_If only it were that easy_.**

Black didn't know how he did it but somehow, he had even managed to make that sound threatening. "Are you alright by the way? Any smoke get into containment shell?"

**_No. Focus your attention on getting us out of here._ **

"Yes, yes," Black sighed. "I'll start—" she said before a beeping sound came from her arm. "Can't even have a moment to relax." She took off her right armored arm band to reveal a metallic prosthetic arm that had a monitor built into the side.

 _3 HUMANOIDS DETECTED_  the monitor flashed in blinking crimson red.  _Looks like someone already found us,_ Black thought instead of speaking.  _More importantly, they're_ _eavesdropping on us._

**_I told you not to turn on those lights._ **

_It wouldn't have mattered. With how we crashed we would have been discovered eventually._

_**What are you going to do?** _

_Introduce myself, of course._

_Why is she taking her armor off?_ Azula thought. The 'spirit' woman took off her chest plate, leg armor, and boots, tossing them onto the ground as if they were worthless. She was now wearing a robe as dark as the night, billowing along with the breeze. In fact, if the lights weren't on Azula was sure she'd look like a floating head.

 _"_ Where did she go?" Li struggled to keep her voice below a whisper.

"What are you talking about?" Azula asked before she recoiled. A chill ran down her spine almost causing her to shiver. The woman had completely disappeared. She had only taken her eyes off of her for two seconds. "Lo, did you see where she went?"

"Maybe she went deeper into the forest?"

"Or maybe that cloak of hers made her invisible," the princess posited. "That would explain why she took off her armor."

"Keep your voices down!" Li whispered. "She could still be here."

The minutes that passed felt like hours as they waited for the woman to return. She wasn't sure that they had been discovered but the bright lights left Azula feeling exposed. As long as they were on, they were vulnerable.

"We need to leave now," Lo broke the silence.

"And let her get away?"

"We don't know what we're dealing with," Li chimed in. "We can return with reinforcements later, but right now we need to leave. It isn't safe."

"What's not safe?" said a fourth voice.

Azula immediately reacted, kicking upwards in a flaming blue arc.

"Whoa!" Black said, barely getting out of the way of the fire. She jumped backwards creating a 3 meter space between her and the princess.  _Where did that fire come from?_

By now, Azula had formed a fighting stance, her heart beating rapidly like never before. This was the first time someone had ever successfully snuck up on her and the feeling was strangely exhilarating. She could feel the blood pounding in her head, her face slightly red. The other two reacted the same way, more than a little annoyed someone got the jump on them. Lo had taken out two steel daggers while Li sported a saber with a red flag.

"Ladies I mean you no harm," Black raised her hands. "Might I ask where we are?"

"How long were you behind us?" Azula asked, summoning blue fire in her hands.

"Long enough," Black smiled as she took an interest in the fire in her hands. "Where's that fire coming from? Do you have some sort of ignition system set up?"

"Of course," Azula returned the smile as she made the flame grow in size. The woman didn't know what firebending was, an advantage she filed away for later use. "If you step closer, I can show you how it works."

"Stranger," Li interrupted, "Would you mind telling us your name?"

"Black."

"That's a color, not a name," Azula said.

"And yet it is mine all the same."

"Black, how did you end up here?" Lo asked.

Azula didn't turn away from the stranger but she could tell from the tone of their voices the sisters were up to something.

"It's a simple story really," Black laughed. "As I was making my way through the stars my ship was attacked by monsters. I narrowly escaped and crash landed here."

No one spoke for a while as the three took some time to process the statement. All the while the woman in black robes looked at them with a smile. Perhaps it would have been comforting if it wasn't so unnerving.

"You are from the stars?" Li asked.

"Yes, I just said that."

"Are you—" Lo said before she interrupted herself. This was new ground and required a new way of thinking. "Do you know what a human is?"

"Of course I know what a human is," Black raised an eyebrow.

"Are you human then?"

"Ah I see, best not to assume. That's a good idea," Black said to herself. "I am Black, Goddess of the Night Sky. I am about as human as you are an insect."

**_You're trying that again? I never knew you to be unoriginal._ **

_I'm just following the standard protocol._

_**There's a protocol for this?** _

_You'd be surprised how often this happens._

"If you're a god then how come I've never heard of you?" Azula asked.

"I'd have called you a liar if you had heard of me. I'm a god from another world. One too far for you mortals to ever observe."

"If you are from so far away, then why are you here at all?"

"Very interesting," Black smirked. She walked toward them and the three slightly edged backwards. Li herself was only one footstep away from the edge of the precipice. "Most mortals consider it wise not to question the words of gods."

Before Azula could follow up with her own retort she was interrupted by a faint but distinct familiar sound, footsteps.  _Oh great reinforcements are here…_

"What is that?" Black asked, turning around to peer deeper into the forest. Her query was answered when she saw the first soldier, clad in crimson armor, appear from a tree, spear ready in his hand. He was soon joined by the rest of his company, each soldier aiming his spear at the foreign woman. Some of them had small fireballs in the other hand lighting the way for the rest.  _More pyrokinetics…_  Black thought, a little wary of the soldiers. If the girl had been able to use fire in combat like that, then what would these men be able to do?

"Who are you? You're trespassing on Fire Nation—" Captain Rumil said before getting a good look at the woman. The soldiers also gave some pause as they stared along with the captain at Black. Was she a spirit?

"Ahem," Azula coughed.

"Princess Azula, is that you?" Rumil asked.

"I take it you're not blind?"

"No Princess," Rumil said, bowing to show as much deference as possible. He had heard stories of how she had fired majors in the army for the simplest of transgressions. She could easily replace him with one of his soldiers if she wanted to.

"Good," Azula smiled. "Arrest thi—"

"Our deepest apologies Goddess," Li interjected putting away her saber. Lo immediately followed suit sheathing her daggers. "We mean no ill will. It's just that we are in the midst of war and assumed you were an invader. We would be honored if you could stay the night with us. You must be exhausted from your travels."

"You trust me enough to invite me?" Black asked. She looked to the company of soldiers on one side, who were wearily judging her, and the young girl on the other who never took her eyes off of her. She was the most dangerous of all. Black could tell she had been ready to kill. "Why did you change your mind?"

"Goddess, once we saw your ship, we saw how wrong we were. We did not mean to raise our blades against you," Lo said this time.

"Thank you," Black commented. The sister had immediately followed up on the twin's lie.  _How well versed are they_ _in lying? Or could they be telepathic?_  she thought.  _No wait, that sounds stupid_. "What should I call you two?"

"I am Li."

"I am Lo."

Black turned her attention to the girl. "And what about you child? What's your name?"

Azula took in a small sigh as she extinguished the flames in her hands. She'd scold her teachers later for not including her in their plan. "I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, and I too would be honored if you can stay the night. Perhaps in the morning I can show you around the kingdom."

Black looked at the bowing girl and smiled. In some ways she reminded her of herself when she was that young. Commanding officers decades older than her, conjuring fire from thin air, and having the sort of practiced smile that would put any other liar to shame, all signs that she shouldn't trust her. "I humbly accept your offer Princess Azula," Black said. "I would stay the night in my ship, but it's too dangerous right now. Thank you for your generosity."

"Of course it is the least we can do for a goddess," Azula said. "Captain Rumil, you will escort us to base. Send some of your soldiers to warn the other officers not to approach the ship. Tell  _them_  the accidental intrusion is my responsibility and any questions they have they can refer to me, Li and Lo, or my father."

"Yes Princess," Rumil said before he rushed ahead of the company to relay the orders.  _Escort?_  Black laughed inwardly. They had her completely surrounded. The company of spearmen and fire practitioners were in front of her and behind her were two elders with their blades. It was hardly noticeable, but she could see their fingers slightly twitching toward their weapons.

**_Why are you walking into such an obvious trap?_ **

_I need a place to rest, they're offering. Besides if I were to kill all these soldiers, I'd probably have their country coming for me. It wouldn't be conducive to our problem._

_**Do not disappoint me Black. It wouldn't be conducive to your health,**_ the voice said fading away.

 _Isn't he the witty one?_  Black smiled as she followed the party deeper into the forest, delving deeper into the darkness. It was nice to have a little side adventure once in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of the soul slip I stole from One Piece. In this world everyone has chi and can insert it into paper so that it indicates if they're alive or not and other statuses.  
> This is also why the statues glow white when Aang goes into his Avatar State. Each statue in various temples have soul slips with his chi in it. I'll explain more later in the story. I will be adding images to indicate various aspects of the story such as locations of everything that has happened so far.
> 
> Think of the Red Lotus like the KGB, White Lotus like the Jedi Council.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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